£> **» X 



** 




Y1EW OTLAR SPROATS LAKE 

VANCOUVER ISLAND. 
From cu Sketch by F. Whvmper. 

London: Published fy Snuui.nder k CU868. 



SCENES AND STUDIES 



OF SAVAGE LIFE. 



GILBERT MALCOLM SPKOAT. 



AFTER A HARD DAY'S TOIL SEE ME SLEEP UPON RUSHES, AND IN VERY BAD WEATHER 
TAKE OUT MY CASETTE, AND WRITE TO YOU. — SoiltJiey. 



LONDON: SMITH, ELDER AND CO. 

1868. 



SA K 



A 






o 









I DEDICATE THIS BOOK 



TO 



EDMUND HOPE VERNEY, R. N., 



WHOSE NAME, ASSOCIATED WITH GOOD WORKS, 



WILL LONG BE 



REMEMBERED IN VANCOUVER ISLAND. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Preface xi 

CHAPTER I. 

Occupation of District. 

Occupation of Alberni — Interview with the Natives — Threatened Hos- 
tilities — Progress of the Settlement — Cook, Meares, and Jewitt's 
Accounts of several of these Indian Tribes 1 



CHAPTER II. 

Right of Savages to the Soil. 

The Right of Civilized Men to occupy Savage Countries — Duty of 
Intruders — Plots of the Ahts to attack us — Arrival of H.M. gun- 
boat Grappler — The Indian's notion of an English Bishop, and of 
the Crews of English Ships of War G 

CHAPTER III. 

Localities. 

Localities of the Aht Nation — Topographical Features of the District 
—The large Sounds : the outside Coast : the Mountain Lakes : 
the Pine-Forests : the Climate — Native Population on the West 
Coast of Vancouver Island — Several Characteristics of Tribes — 
Tribal Names originally bestowed by Quawteaht— Subdivision of 
Tribes ]0 



vi CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 
Physical Appearance. 

PAGE 

Physical Appearance of the Natives — Their Stature, Strength, Weight, 
Complexion — Their Teeth, Hair, Dress, Ornaments — Abbe 
Domenech's Book — Fish-eating Indians not weak in the Legs — 
Bathing common ; Skill of the Ahts in Diving — Vapour-Bath 
unknown — Water colder than in England — Traces of old Spanish 
Settlement — Painting Paces— Custom of Moulding the Head — 
Appearance of the Natives in Infancy and Youth — Rapid Decay of 
Manly Strength — The Paces of the Ahts expressive of Settled 
Character 21 



CHAPTER V. 

Pursuit of a Fugitive. 

Strength of the Natives Fingers — Speed in Running — Skill in 

Paddling— Escape of a Fugitive , 32 

CHAPTER VI. 
Houses. 

Houses of the Ahts— Custom of Changing Quarters— Mode of Shift- 
ing an Encampment— No Appreciation of Natural Scenery — 
Description of Dwellings and Furniture 37 

CHAPTER VII. 
A Justice of the Peace on Circuit. 

A Mutinous Crew— My Canoe stolen— Left upon an Island— George 
the Pirate— Stormy Sea— Sensations from Freezing— Samaritan 
Woodmen 4 ^ 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Domestic Manners. 

Winter the time for Feasts— Domestic Manners ; Fondness for Jokes 
and Gossip— Rarity of Serious Quarrels ; Ignorance of Fisticuffs 
—Unwillingness to labour— Appetite, Meals, Food and Drinks, 
Cooking ; Gathering Gammass Roots ; Cutting down Crab-apple 
Trees in Despair— Hospitality to Friendly Unexpected Visitors 
—Observance of Formalities in Social Intercourse 50 



CONTENTS. vii 

CHAPTER IX. 
Feasts. 

PAGE 

Feasts and Feasting — -Description of a great Whale Feast — After- 
dinner Oratory : Skill in Public Speaking— Seta-Kanim "on his 
Legs " — Vocal Peculiarities — Indian's reply to Governor Kennedy 
— Singing : Blind Minstrel from Klah-oh-quaht ; Translation of 
one of his Songs — Amusements of Adults and Children — Dances 
and Plays ; Description of five different Dances 59 



CHAPTER X. 

An Attempt at an Inquest. 

Depredations of the Indians — An Indian shot with Peas — English 
Staff: Surgeon — Soft-hearted Yorkshireman — Absurd Verdicts of 
the Jury 72 

CHAPTER XI. 

Acquisition and Use of Property. 

Acquisition of Property — Sharpness in Bargaining — Restrictions upon 
Trade — Land considered as Tribal Property — Description of 
various kinds of Personal Property : Muskets, Bows and Arrows, 
Canoes, Hand-adze, Bone Gimlet, Elkhorn Chisel, Stone Hammer, 
Household Utensils, Mats, Clothing — Method of Making and 
Managing Canoes — Prevalence of Slavery and Slave-Dealing — 
Condition and Treatment of Slaves , 78 



CHAPTER XII. 

Condition of Women. 

Condition of the Aht Women — Unmarried and Married — their Betrothal 
— Marriage — Divorce — Widowhood — Polygamy — Polyandry 93 

CHAPTER XIH. 

Escape from the Toquahts. 

Respect for Rank — Visit to the Toquahts — Dangerous Encampment — 

Indians circumvented 103 



viii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Tribal Ranks. 

PAGE 

Use made of an Accumulation of Personal Chattels— Custom of Distri- 
buting Property — Object of such Distribution — Degrees of Tribal 
Ranks— Position of Hereditary Chiefs ; of Minor Chiefs ; War 
Chief s, and Military Officers — Rank bestowed on Women Ill 

CHAPTER XV. 

Intellectual Capacity and Language. 

Intellectual Capacities — Mode of Numeration— Division of Time — 
Language ; its Imperfect Structure ; Formation of New Words — 
Remarks on some Peculiarities of the Language — Nitinaht Varia- 
tions— Cook's List of Words — Little Change in the Language 
since Cook's Time — The Aht Language probably Allied to the 
Real Chinook—Tribal Names 119 

CHAPTER XVI. 

A Great Deer Hunt. 

The Waw-win — a great Deer Hunt 144 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Moral Dispositions. 

The Savage Character — Vindictiveness — Coldbloodedness — Attack on 
the Elkwhahts — Murder of a Girl — Human Sacrifice — Custom of 
the Min-okey-ak — Notions about Stealing — Affection for Children 
— Habitual Suspicion — Want of Foresight — Absence of Faith — 
Ingratitude— Sincerity of the Indian's Declarations 150 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Sorcerers. 
Some Account of the Sorcerers or "Medicine-men " 167 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Traditions. 

An Account of a Few of the Primitive Traditions of the People 170 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XX. 
Usages in Warfare. 



PAGE 



Usages in Warfare— Description by an Eyewitness of an Indian Attack 

on a Village— Admiral Denman's Brush with the Ahousahts 186 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Religious Practices. 

The Religious Practices of the Ahts 203 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Usages in Pishing. 

The Aht mode of Fishing, with descriptions of several Pish — the 

Salmon — Herrings — Halibut — Whale — Cod 215 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Usages in Hunting. 

The Aht mode of Hunting ; with Descriptions of Several Animals — 
the Panther — Wolf — Bear— Wapiti or Elk — Blacktailed Deer — 
Indian Dogs — Marten — Mink — Racoon — Beaver 231 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Diseases. 

Diseases— Medicines and Medical Practice 251 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Usages in Burial. 

Usages in Burial — Appearance of the Aht Burying Grounds — Burial 

of a Chief 258 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Miscellaneous. 

Miscellaneous — Giving Names to Persons — Description of a Feast where 
a Name was Given — Indians have some Standard of Correct Speech 
— Aht Names for Different Winds — Few Memorials of an Older 
Time— Rock Carving on the side of Sproat's Lake — Impcrfectness 
of Indian Traditions — Pipes — Secret Fraternity among the Tribes 
on the Coast 264 



x CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Effects upon Savages of Intercourse with Civilized Men. 

PAGE 

Effects of Intercourse between Civilized and Uncivilized Races — Real 
Meaning of Colonization as regards Aborigines — Want of Definite- 
ness in the English Colonial Policy — Moral and Physical Agencies 
Concerned in Disappearance of Native Races — Decay of Tribes 
in their Isolated State — Evidence from my own Experience and 
Observations — Inconsiderateness of Untravelled Writers — Abori- 
gines, as a rule, not Harshly Treated by English Colonists — What 
are the Diseases and Vices of Civilization ? — Course of Opera- 
tion of the Destructive Agencies following Intercourse with the 
Whites 272 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Concluding Chapter. 

Can Nothing be Done to Save the Native People ? — My View of the 
Case — the Home Government Primarily Responsible — Practical 
Suggestion as to the Means of Improving Isolated Tribes — 
Results of Missionary Work hitherto 287 



Vocabulary of the Aht Language, with a List of the 
Numerals 295 



Appendix 311 



PREFACE. 



I did not intend, originally, to publish these observations, 
and have made no attempt, now, at literary ornament in 
producing them. Any value found in these pages will 
consist, I think, in their freshness and minuteness of 
detail, as well as in the more special consideration of 
social feelings, moral and intellectual characteristics and 
religious notions — matters which travellers among savages, 
ordinarily, have not full opportunity to do justice to. My 
private and official business on the west coast of Vancouver 
Island gave me an advantageous position for studying the 
natives themselves, and also the effect upon them of 
intercourse with civilized intruders. I lived among the 
people and had a long acquaintanceship with them; I 
did not merely pass through the country. The informa- 
tion which I give concerning their language, manners, 
customs, and ways of life, is not from memory, but from 
memoranda, written with a pencil on the spot — in the hut, 
in the canoe, or in the deep forest ; and afterwards verified 



xii PREFACE. 

or amended by my own further researches, or from the 
observations of my friends. Among these, I am especially 
indebted to the late George Beid, of Alberni, and to 
the well-known traveller and naturalist, Mr. Eobert 
Brown, F.B.G.S., whose knowledge of the North- West 
American Indians is extensive and accurate. 

During this singular episode in my early career, I 
was for five years a colonial magistrate, and also a 
proprietor of the settlement at Alberni in Nitinaht (or 
Barclay) Sound, on the west coast of Vancouver Island — 
the only civilized settlement on the west coast. The 
condition of the native tribes on that coast has, hitherto, 
been quite unknown. 

I have stated in the two concluding chapters the 
opinions which I have formed from my observation and 
experience of these savages. Some, perhaps, will read 
these chapters, who have not time to read the whole 
book. 

Mr. F. Whymper has kindly given me the sketch for 
the frontispiece. 

G. M. S. 

London, January 1, 1868. 



SCENES AND STUDIES 



OF 



SAVAGE LIFE, 



CHAPTER I. 

OCCUPATION OF DISTRICT. 

Occupation of Alberni — Interview with the Natives — Threatened Hostilities 
— Progress of the Settlement — Cook, Meares, and Jewitt's Accounts of 
several of these Indian Tribes. 

He took great content, exceeding delight, in that his voyage. — Burton. 
I pr'ythee now, lead the way without any more talking. — Shakspeare. 

In August, I860, I entered Nitinaht, or Barclay Sound, 
on the outside, or western, coast of Vancouver Island, 
with the two armed vessels, Woodpecker and Meg Mer- 
rilies, manned by about fifty men, who accompanied me 
for the purpose of taking possession of the district now 
called Alberni, a name taken from the Spanish navigator 
who first discovered the inlet at the head of the Sound 
Reaching the entrance of this inlet, we sailed for 
twenty miles up to the end of it — as up a natural canal — 

1 



S 



2 OCCUPATION OF DISTRICT, 

three-quarters of a mile wide and very deep, bordered 
by rocky mountains, which rose high on both sides almost 
perpendicularly from the water. The view, as we advanced 
up this inlet from the sea, was shut in behind and before 
us, making the prospect like that from a mountain lake. 
At the end of this singular canal, the rocky sides of which 
appear to have been smoothed by a continued action of 
moving ice upon their surface, and which itself gives an 
idea of having been the furrow of a mighty glacier moving 
downwards towards the sea, the high land on the right 
receded from the shore, and a large bay or basin, with a 
river flowing into it through level wooded land, met our 
view. The range of hills which opened on one side formed 
an elbow about ten miles distant from the canal, and 
crossing in a direction almost at right angles to the course 
of the inlet, met a continuation of the other range, and 
thus shut in the district known to all the Indians as the 
famous berry-land of Somass. 

Near a pretty point at one side of the bay, where there 
was a beach shaded by young trees, the summer encamp- 
ment of a tribe of natives was to be seen. Our arrival 
caused a stir, and we saw their flambeaux of gumsticks 
flickering among the trees during the night. 

In the morning I sent a boat for the chief, and 
explained to him that his tribe must move their encamp- 
ment, as we had bought all the surrounding land from the 
Queen of England, and wished to occupy the site of the 
village for a particular purpose. He replied that the land 
belonged to themselves, but that they were willing to sell 
it. The price not being excessive, I paid him what was 
asked — about twenty pounds' worth of goods — for the sake 



THREATENED HOSTILITIES. 3 

of peace, on condition that the whole people and buildings 
should be removed next day. But no movement was then 
made, and as an excuse it was stated that the children 
were sick. On the day following the encampment was in 
commotion ; speeches were made, faces blackened, guns 
and pikes got out, and barricades formed. Outnumbered 
as we were, ten to one, by men armed with muskets, and 
our communications with the sea cut off by the impossi- 
bility of sailing steadily down the Alberni Canal (the 
prevalent breeze blowing up it), there was some cause for 
alarm had the natives been resolute. But being provided, 
fortunately, in both vessels with cannon — of which the 
natives at that time were much afraid — they, after a little 
show of force on our side, saw that resistance would be 
inexpedient, and began to move from the spot. The way 
in which these people move their encampments will be 
described further on. Two or three days afterwards, when 
the village had been moved to another place, not far 
distant, I visited the principal house at the new encamp- 
ment, with a native interpreter. 

" Chiefs of the Seshahts," said I on entering, "are 
you well ; are your women in health ; are your children 
hearty ; do your people get plenty of fish and fruits ?" 

" Yes," answered an old man, "our families are well, 
our people have plenty of food ; but how long this will 
last we know not. We see your ships, and hear things 
that make our hearts grow faint. They say that more 
King-George-men will soon be here, and will take our 
land, our firewood, our fishing grounds ; that we shall be 
placed on a little spot, and shall have to do everything 
according to the fancies of the King-George-men." 

1—2 



4 OCCUPATION OF DISTRICT. 

" Do you believe all this ? " I asked. 

" We want your information/' said the speaker. 

" Then," answered I, "it is true that more King- 
George-men (as they call the English) are coming : they 
will soon be here ; but your land will be bought at a fair 
price." 

"We do not wish to sell our land nor our water: let 
your friends stay in their own country." 

To which I rejoined : " My great chief, the high chief 
of the King-George-men, seeing that you do not work 
your land, orders that you shall sell it. It is of no use to 
you. The trees you do not need ; - you will fish and hunt 
as you do now, and collect firewood, planks for your houses, 
and cedar for your canoes. The white man will give you 
work, and buy your fish and oil." 

" Ah, but we don't care to do as the white men wish." 

" Whether or not," said I, " the white men will come. 
All your people know that they are your superiors ; they 
make the things which you value. You cannot make 
muskets, blankets, or bread. The white men will teach 
your children to read printing, and to be like themselves." 

" We do not want the white man. He steals what we 
have. We wish to live as we are." 

These were the first savages that I had ever seen, and 
they were probably at that time less known than any 
aboriginal people under British dominion, not excepting 
even the Anclamaners. 

A civilized settlement was now formed almost imme- 
diately in their midst, and the natives stared at the build- 
ings, wharves, steam-engines, ploughs, oxen, horses, sheep, 
and pigs, which they had never seen before. 



J E WITT 8 ACCOUNT. 5 

Having myself remained amongst them for a con- 
siderable time — since the first occupation of Alberni — I 
am now able to give an account of their condition and 
customs, in addition to what has been written concerning 
several of the Aht tribes dwelling more to the north by 
Cook, Meares, and Jewitt. Cook's account is the best 
that has been published ; that of Jewitt, though evidently 
authentic, has probably suffered in the hands of some 
professed bookmaker. 

As evidence to some extent of the authenticity of 
Jewitt's book, I may here record that an old Indian told 
the late W. E. Banfield, a well-known trader on the coast, 
that he had been a youthful servitor in the family of the 
chief Klan-nin-ittle during the bondage of Jewitt and 
Thompson, and that he often assisted Jewitt in carry- 
ing the bows, arrows, and other weapons which Klan-nin- 
ittle used in hostile expeditions. He said further that 
the white slave generally accompanied his owner on visits 
of courtesy, which in quiet times he frequently paid to the 
tribes of Ayhuttisaht, Ahousaht, and Klah-oh-quaht. 
Jewitt, it seems, was a general favourite, owing to his 
good-humour and lightheadedness, and he often recited 
and sang in his own language for the amusement of the 
savages. He was described as a tall, well-made youth, 
with a mirthful countenance, whose dress, latterly, con- 
sisted of nothing but a mantle of cedar-bark. There was 
a long story also of Jewitt's courting, and, I think, finally 
abducting the charming daughter of the Ahousaht chief, 
Waugh-clagh ; with which, however, I shall not trouble 
the reader. 



\ 



( 6 ) 



CHAPTER II. 

RIGHT OF SAVAGES TO THE SOIL. 

The right of civilized Men to occupy sayage Countries — Duty of Intruders 
— Plots of the Ahts to attack us — Arrival of H.M. gunboat Grappler 
— The Indian's notion of an English Bishop, and of the Crews of 
English Ships of War. 



/ say, by sorcery he got this isle, 
From me he got it. — Tempest. 



I spent some months very pleasantly directing the first 
work at the settlement. The vessels discharged their 
cargoes, and the carpenters worked on shore preparing 
timber for the houses and buildings. The first house 
that was built was made of logs, with split w r ood for the 
roof — rather a plain-looking hut, but nevertheless a 
comfortable house in all weathers. It was the kind 
of house that woodmen build with the axe alone. By- 
and-by, we had more ambitious houses of sawn wood. 
The place the Indians had moved to was about a mile 
distant, and our conversation naturally was very much 
about them. In the evenings we sat round the fire 
discussing their dispositions and probable intentions, 
and the Indians did the same about us in their new 



THE RIGHT TO OCCUPY SAVAGE COUNTRIES. 7 

encampment. We often talked about our right as strangers 
to take possession of the district. The right of bond fide 
purchase we had, for I had bought the land from the 
Government, and had purchased it a second time from the 
natives. Nevertheless, as the Indians disclaimed all know- 
ledge of the colonial authorities at Victoria, and had sold 
the country to us, perhaps, under the fear of loaded cannon 
pointed towards the village, it was evident that we had 
taken forcible possession of the district. The American 
woodmen, who chiefly formed my party, discussed the whole 
question with great clearness. Their opinion generally 
was that our occupation was justifiable, and could not be 
sternly disputed even by the most scrupulous moralist. 
They considered that any right in the soil which these 
natives had as occupiers was partial and imperfect, as, with 
the exception of hunting animals in the forests, plucking 
wild fruits, and cutting a few trees to make canoes and 
houses, the natives did not, in any civilized sense, occupy 
the land. It would be unreasonable to suppose, the 
Americans said, that a body of civilized men, under the 
sanction of their Government, could not rightfully settle 
in a country needing their labours, and peopled only by a 
fringe of savages on the coast. Unless such a right were 
presumed to exist, there would be little progress in the 
world by means of colonization, — that wonderful agent, 
which, directed by laws of its own, has changed and is 
changing the whole surface of the earth. I could not, 
however, see how this last-named fact strictly could form 
the groundwork of a right. My own notion is that the 
particular circumstances which make the deliberate intru- 
sion of a superior people into another country lawful or 



3 RIGHT OF SAVAGES TO THE SOIL. 

expedient are connected to some extent with the use which 
the dispossessed or conquered people have made of the soil, 
and with their general behaviour as a nation. For instance, 
we might justify our occupation of Vancouver Island by^ the 
fact of all the land lying waste without prospect of improve- 
ment, and our conquest of a peopled and cultivated country 
like Oude by some such consideration as this — that the 
State was delinquent before the world, and by its cor- 
ruption put the welfare of neighbouring and progressive 
English territories in danger. It would be necessary 
in all cases to remember that, though the right of 
the intruders might be justified by some of these con- 
siderations, the intruders would be bound to act always 
with such justice, humanity, and moderation as should 
vindicate fully those superior pretensions which were the 
ground of the right of occupying. Any extreme act, such 
as a general confiscation of cultivated land, or systematic 
personal ill-treatment of the dispossessed people, would be 
quite unjustifiable. Probably, no other circumstance than 
a continued wanton quarrelling with their fate, after the 
occupation of the country by a superior race, ought to be 
held as sufficient cause for depriving savage aboriginal 
inhabitants of their title to a limited and sufficient pro- 
perty, enjoyable under certain conditions. So much they 
could claim as our fellow-men, and they would also 
have other obvious claims on the consideration of 
a Christian nation. The whole question of the right 
of any people to intrude upon another, and to dis- 
possess them of their country, is one of those questions 
to which the answer practically is always the same, 
though differently given by many as a matter of specu- 



NOTIONS OF AN ENGLISH BISHOP. 9 

lative opinion. The practical answer is given by the 
determination of intruders under any circumstances to 
keep what has been obtained ; and this, without discussion, 
we,. on the west coast of Vancouver Island, were all pre- 
pared to do. It can easily be supposed that we spent 
many anxious nights in our remote, isolated position at 
Alberni. It was discovered afterwards that various plans 
of attacking us were at this time entertained by the 
natives ; and there, of course, were rumours of plots which 
never had existence. Happily, however, no disturbance 
took place, with the exception of a few individual brawls, 
and we gradually gained the confidence and goodwill of 
the people. On a rumour spreading that we had been 
attacked in our encampment, Governor Douglas sent the 
gunboat Grappler, Commander Helby, to our assistance, 
which remained at anchor for a short time near the settle- 
ment. During the stay of this vessel, several interesting 
and picturesque interviews took place between two neigh- 
bouring tribes and Commander Helby, accompanied by his 
guest the Bishop of Columbia.* The Aht notion of an 
English bishop is that he is a great medicine man or 
sorcerer ; and they regard the sailors in her Majesty's 
ships as belonging to a separate, distinct tribe of whites. 
Being themselves all fighters, the Ahts cannot understand 
why the great King- George tribe should leave all their 
fighting to a few individuals. 

* The latter, I believe, sent home an account of one of these interviews, 
and it was published in some of the missionary newspapers. 



( io ) 



CHAPTEK III. 

LOCALITIES. 

Localities of the Aht Nation — Topographical Features of the District— 
The large Sounds : the outside Coast : the Mountain Lakes : the Pine- 
Forests : the Climate — Native Population on the West Coast of 
Vancouver Island— Several Characteristics of Tribes— Tribal Names 
originally bestowed by Quawteaht— Subdivision of Tribes. 



Fain would I here have made abode, 

But I was quickened by my hour. — Herbert. 



I will now give the reader a short description of the 
wild country in which we were the first settlers. To many 
this subject may not be very interesting, but perhaps in a 
few years it may become desirable to possess a record of 
the state of this portion of the island in its now condition. 
Dr. Arnold said he always looked for descriptions of places 
in books of travel, though he seldom found one that gave 
him any clear notion of a place. I hope to have avoided 
this condemnation. 

The localities inhabited by the Aht tribes are, chiefly, the 
three large Sounds on the west coast of Vancouver Island, 
called Nitinaht (or Barclay), Klah-oh-quaht, and Nootkah, 
the two former of which are native names borne by tribes 
at these places. In Nitinaht (or Barclay) Sound, is now 



TOPOGRAPHY OF THE DISTRICT. 11 

the settlement and port of Alberni, the origin of which 
I have just described ; Klah-oh-quaht was the scene 
of the destruction of the ship Tonquin, and massacre of 
her crew, as related in living's Astoria, an occunence 
which to this day is spoken of among the tribes ; Nootkah 
gave its name (whatever that may have come from, for 
there is now no native name resembling it) to a conven- 
tion in 1790 between England and Spain. As will be 
seen in the map, these capacious inlets or sounds throw- 
out arms in various directions inland ; and into these arms, 
coming from mountain lakes known to a few Indians only, 
shallow rivers flow, which are diversified by falls and rapids, 
and deepen here and there when pent up between mountains 
approaching one another closely. The broad surface of the 
sounds is studded with rocky islets of various sizes — as in 
the Skar, on the North-west coast of Europe — covered 
with scrubby, hemlock, cedar, and pine trees. These trees 
— the pine predominating — also clothe the rugged sides of 
the hills that rise from the shore into peaks or serrated 
ridges, in some places almost perpendicularly, at other 
places with a gradual ascent. 

The scenery visible from these great sheets of water, if 
not beautiful, is at all times interesting, though in broad 
daylight, the jagged, fissured, rocky islands, the bare-topped 
trees dwarfed by the sea-breeze, and the hard outline of 
the mountain-ranges, appear perhaps rather too distinctly 
defined to make any near view either pleasing or impressive. 
I found that perhaps the best time to linger in a canoe on 
these wide bays was just about the twilight, when the harsh 
sharp lines of the surrounding scenery were softened, and 
the shadows of islet and mountain lengthened over the 



12 ' LOCALITIES. 

singularly clear water. Among the islands, and on the 
shore of the Sounds, there is an endless number and variety 
of passages, creeks, bays, and harbours of all shapes and 
sizes, which can be discovered only on a near approach. 
Many of these marine nooks, these unexpected 'quiet 
retreats on this secluded shore, are deep enough to float the 
largest ship, and far down through the pellucid water, 
never moved by storms, gardens of zoophytes are visible 
at the bottom. Such places, on a summer day, strike the 
imagination of a loiterer like the creations in a happy 
dream ; they are so small, calm, and remote — so margined 
by worn, strange-shaped rocks, and by diminutive trees, 
chiefly cedar and fir, under whose arched roots streamlets 
flow murmuring into the sea. 

On the ocean coast outside, between the entrances to 
the great inlets, a different prospect is found : the line of 
the shore there is broken by low headlands which project 
from the seaboard, and appear with their shapeless, outlying 
rocks, not unlike the shattered angles of a fortified work ; 
between these capes are narrow beaches, backed by a curtain 
of rock, over which hill upon hill appears, woody and rugged. 
As the coast lies exposed to the uninterrupted western swell 
of the North Pacific, the waves are generally large, and 
even in calm weather they break with a noise on the shore 
and roar among the caverns. During a storm in winter, 
those who care for terrible scenes are gratified by the sight 
of enormous billows rolling in from the ocean and dashing 
with fury upon the shore. The line of the raging surf on 
the beach extends before one's eyes for miles to some 
rocky cape, over which the waves foam, the spray being 
borne upwards and flung through the air. Wild 



THE COAST. 13 

black clouds approach the earth, and are hurried along 
by the blast. There is nowhere any sign of life now ; 
the Indians crowd together in their houses, and the 
birds huddle behind the sheltering rocks. Speaking 
generally, however, navigators, since the publication 
of the Admiralty charts, do not consider the coast dan- 
gerous in average weather ; they find anchorages in the 
Sounds, and the channels from the ocean are deep — too 
deep rather — and are free from rocks and rapid currents. 
The severest gales that I remember occurred in November, 
but during the whole winter there are heavy storms ; in 
summer calms and fogs prevail — March and October being 
considered the foggiest months.* 

Of the country along this coast, a short description will 
suffice. The whole surface, as far inland as I have pene- 
trated, is rocky and mountainous, and is covered with thick 
pine-forests, without any of the oak-openings that enliven 
the scenery near Victoria in the southern part of the island. 
From some of the eminences near Alberni a great expanse 
of country can be seen on a clear day ; but the view, looking 
inland, is not varied, consisting for the most part of narrow 
valleys and steep hills, weathered peaks with bare stony 
tops ; here and there glimpses of shining lakes or rain- 
pools, and in the distance snow-covered mountains. " The 
back of the world, brother," with some truth the Gaelic- 

* The kelp is one of the most extraordinary marine productions on the 
coast. It is found in masses which spread over the surface of the sea, and 
through these great weeds it is difficult for a small vessel to make way 
unless with a strong breeze. I do not know the greatest length of the stems 
of this plant, but I have seen it growing in twenty-five fathoms of water, and 
remember measuring a piece of kelp on the beach near the Ohyaht village, 
in Nitinaht Sound, that was fifty-five yards in length and an inch and a half 
in diameter at the thickest part. 



14 LOCALITIES. 

woman said in her own expressive words on first seeing 
this district; " you are bringing me to the back of the 
world." Owing to the absence of any large tract of level 
land in the district, and the height of the land near the sea, 
the rivers are small, shallow, and rapid, and only navigable 
by canoes for a few miles. 

Two days' rain, dissolving a portion of the snow on the 
hills, or gathering in the innumerable natural reservoirs 
and channels, will cause a rise of many feet in streams 
which before were extremely shallow. I know an instance 
of a fordable river — the Klistachnit at Alberni — which rose 
twelve feet in less than forty-eight hours. The mountains 
everywhere approach closely to one another, and form 
between them deep, thickly-wooded valleys or long narrow 
lakes. These lakes are a marked feature in Vancouver 
Island scenery. They have no main feeders, but generally 
receive their waters from the rain and melted snow, which 
come down the sides of the steep mountains. In fact 
they are extensive " tarns," and many of them are the 
finest and gloomiest of their class. They are most irregular 
in shape, seldom exceeding a mile or two in width, but 
extending between mountains for ten or fifteen miles in 
different directions like the legs on a Manx penny. The 
whole country — valley and mountain — is covered with pines, 
which, though rough-looking trees, yet by the deep verdure 
of their tops, preserve the scenery from the bareness and 
hardness which, for instance, characterize many of the 
West of Scotland Lochs. There are lakes, however, in the 
Aht district which are as deep, dark, and wild, as Loch 
Corruisken, and solitary beyond conception. I never knew 
what utter solitude meant till I went among these Vancouver 



THE MOUNTAIN LAKES. 15 

lakes ; all is silence but for the melancholy cry of the loon, 
the breaking of a decayed branch in the woods, or the rush 
of a torrent ; and the feeling of loneliness is increased by 
the thought that you are in a savage country far from 
civilized men. As a journeyer in these wilds, I have 
often reclined on a decaying tree by the lake-side in the 
deepening twilight, looking at the black clouds and stormy 
rain, and have tried to imagine — as my last match sputtered 
out — that the lee of a cedar-tree would be a comfortable 
resting-place. In truth, not much imagining is required ; 
for it is wonderful how easily a man becomes reconciled even 
to so poor a bed, if he is in good health and has a cheerful 
heart. One can sleep almost anywhere if one's clothes are 
dry and the cold not excessive. The conditions necessary 
to avoid positive physical discomfort depend greatly on 
habit : an old campaigner thinks that a sod turned up 
against the wind is a luxury. In the interior of the Aht 
country, it is hardly possible for the traveller to reach the 
edge of the forest, except at a lake ; and then, through the 
darkness, whatever his bed promises to be, it is grand some- 
times, as I remember, to see the lightning-flash lighting up 
the shaggy breast of the mountain opposite ; and when the 
blazing glare comes again, to mark the long line through the 
trees made by the avalanche in rolling down for thousands 
of feet into the lake. He marks too the draperies of mist 
moving upwards from the gloomy fells, and that cataract 
just seen hanging like a silver thread to the cap of clouds 
on the far summit, which strikes the eye again, expanded 
into a torrent, a thousand feet lower at the exposed 
turn of some ravine, and then is heard rushing into 
the narrow lake just opposite to the spot on which the 



16 LOCALITIES. 

observer sits. I have seen many such nights in these 
wilds. 

It is difficult to find in any part of the district more 
than a few patches of open land here and there, near the 
mouths of rivers and the borders of lakes. The soil is 
generally deep, and often rich from the accumulation of 
vegetable remains ; but as rough wooded hills form a great 
part of the surface of the country, and rocks crop out every- 
where, there is not room for many farms. Notwithstanding 
the deep shade in the forest, the undergrowth of shrubs 
is luxuriant at certain seasons, but it does not last long. 
In July and August — July being called Kow-wishimilh 
(from Kow-ivit, salmon-berry, and Hishimilh, a crowd) — 
the graceful branches and wavy green leaves of the low 
berry-bushes in the woods are most pleasant to look upon, 
but are a great hindrance in travelling. Probably there 
is nothing in Vancouver Island more interesting to a 
stranger than the aged forests of pine — nearly all of one 
species, Abies Dotiglassii — which cover the country. 
Viewed commercially, though the wood is of first-rate 
quality, these forests are of little value, owing to the 
difficulty of getting the " logs " or " spars " over a rugged 
surface to a saw-mill or place of shipment. The traveller, 
accustomed elsewhere to trees of smaller growth, and to 
pleasing varieties of verdure and freshness, finds himself 
here amidst old, gigantic, thick-barked pines without 
branches to a considerable height from the ground, and 
with dark-green bristling foliage that hardly ever changes. 
The tops of these great trees are in many places so densely 
mingled as to scatter, if not to exclude, the rays of the 
sun. Here and there in the forest are open spaces where 



PINE-FORESTS. 1? 

the trees burnt by a fire — caused perhaps by the careless 

Indians — lie blackened on the ground, or where they appear 

lying white and withered, as if destroyed by some blast or 

circle of wind that left the surrounding trees uninjured : 

" Blasted pines, 
Wrecks of a single winter, barkless, branchless." — Manfred. 

And many an old tree meets the eye, fit object of a con- 
templative and melancholy regard, which, after its long 
growth and towering position in the forest, has reached 
the period of its decline, and can no longer oppose the 
ravages of the insects that prey on its naked trunk. These 
aged trees are constantly falling one across another, and 
their great thickness and length make them, when pros- 
trate, formidable obstructions in walking through the 
woods. On my leaping upon a fallen decayed tree, the 
bark has given way, and I have sunk to the thigh in a 
red mould. Judging from the fact that many clumps 
of young trees grow in the forest, it would appear that 
the seeds, on being shaken out of the cones by the wind, 
either are blown from the parent trees here and there in 
heaps, steered by their membranous sail, or that they 
cover the whole surface, and spring up numerously only 
where the conditions of growth are favourable. These 
young trees stand so closely together that they have a 
hard struggle to grow beyond a certain height; and I 
should think fifty trees die for every one that lives to 
throw out its green top under the heavens. 

There is occasionally a good deal of snow in the Aht 
district — much more than falls in the neighbourhood of 
Victoria ; but, as a rule, it does not lie long on the lower 
ground near the water, and it is seldom seen on the moun- 

2 



18 LOCALITIES. 

tains in summer, except in clefts from which the sun is 
excluded. The third month or "moon" of the Indians, 
Hy-yeskikamilh, which means " the month of most snow," 
corresponds with our January. The climate on the west 
coast, as in all parts of Vancouver Island, particularly in 
the favoured locality of Victoria, is probably altogether the 
most healthful and delightful in the world. Most people 
fatten there, and feel strong and vigorous. I never was 
brisker than when exploring the unknown Aht district, 
carrying with me my food, and sleeping where I chanced 
to halt, generally beneath a spreading cedar. 

I will now remark upon the population of the district, 
which has been thus* roughly described to the reader. It 
is not easy to ascertain the exact native population at the 
present time ; but so far as I know there are, between 
Pacheenah and Nespod, twenty distinct tribes of the Aht 
nation (see Appendix), numbering together about 1,700 
men, capable of bearing arms. The largest tribe numbers 
400 men ; seven other tribes have between one and two 
hundred ; the remaining fifteen tribes vary in numbers from 
sixty down to as few as five : the average number in each of 
the last-named tribes being about twenty-five grown men. 
Few of these natives have visited Victoria ; and their con- 
dition, in fact, as already stated, is comparatively unknown 
to Americans as well as to Europeans. The Aht district 
lies quite out of the ordinary route of travellers, and can 
be reached conveniently only by engaging a vessel at 
Victoria. These tribes of the Ahts are not confederated ; 
and I have no other warrant for calling them a nation 
than the fact of their occupying adjacent territories, and 
having the same superstitions and language. They evi- 



TRIBAL CHARACTERISTICS. 19 

clently have had an ancient connection, if not a common 
origin. < It may be noticed that, though living only a few 
miles apart, the tribes practise different arts, and have, 
apparently, distinct tribal characteristics. One tribe is 
skilful in shaping canoes ; another in painting boards for 
ornamental work, or making ornaments for the person, 
or instruments for hunting and fishing. Individuals, as 
a rule, keep to the arts for which their tribe has some 
repute, and do not care to acquire those arts in which 
other tribes excel. There seems to be among all the tribes 
in the island a sort of recognized tribal monopoly in certain 
articles produced, or that have been long manufactured in 
their own district. For instance, a tribe that does not 
grow potatoes, or make a particular kind of mat, will go 
a long way, year after year, to barter for those articles, 
which, if they liked, they themselves could easily pro- 
duce or manufacture. f: The different Aht tribes vary in 
physiognomy somewhat — faces of the Chinese and the 
Spanish types may be seen ; they vary also in intelligence, 
in love of war, in fondness for many wives, in decorum 
of speech and manner, in several social usages, in taste 
for music and oratory, in habits of slave-dealing and 
gambling, and in their thievish propensities. No 
superior position in the political scale of the tribes is 
assigned by their traditions to any one tribe ; but the 
Toquahts in Nitinaht, or Barclay Sound, are generally 
considered by their neighbours to have been the tribe 
from which the others sprung. Quawteaht, a great per- 
sonage in the mythology of these barbarians, who, while 
on earth, lived at the Toquaht river, is said to have given 
the first part of the names to the tribes ; for instance, 

2—2 



20 LOCALITIES. 

Toqu to the Toquahts, Ohy to the Ohyahts, Nitin to the 
Nitinahts, Klah-oh-Qu to the Klah-oh-Quahts, and so on. 
The natives added the termination Aht in honour of their 
instructor or progenitor, Quawteaht. Subdivisions of tribes 
occasionally take place by the secession of restless, influ- 
ential individuals, who, with their families and friends, 
endeavour to start new tribes under their own chief ship. 
In this way — if a natural increase of numbers is possible 
in a savage state of life — we may suppose that the tribes 
now existing along the coast branched off formerly from a 
few parent stems ; a supposition which accords with one 
of the legends of the people. These first families, leaving 
the parent tribes, and settling at good fishing-places, would 
forget their kindred in a few generations, and treat them 
in all respects as members of separate tribes. But against 
the supposition of such secession having occurred frequently 
in modern days, there is the improbability of the number 
of these natives having increased ; and the fact (which 
will be proved farther on) that the Aht language has not 
changed materially within the last century, as would most 
likely have been the case if subdivisions and formations of 
new tribes had been common. 



( 21 ) 



CHAPTER IV. 

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE. 

Physical Appearance of the Natives — Their Stature, Strength, Weight, Com- 
plexion—Their Teeth, Hair, Dress, Ornaments — Abbe Domenech's 
Book — Fish-eating Indians not weak in the Legs — Bathing common ; 
Skill of the Ahts in Diving — Vapour-Bath unknown — Water colder 
than in England — Traces of old Spanish Settlement — Painting Paces 
— Custom of Moulding the Head — Appearance of the Natives in 
Infancy and Youth — Rapid Decay of Manly Strength — The Paces of 
the Ahts expressive of Settled Character. 



. . . And yet more pleased have, from your lips, 
Gathered this fair report of them who divell 
In that retirement. — Wordsworth. 



The next part of my subject, which I hope will not be 
uninteresting to the reader, is the physical appearance 
and characteristics of these people. As their only article 
of dress is a blanket, and I was constantly among them, 
I can speak with some confidence as to their physique. 
The external features of all the natives along this coast are 
much alike, but one acquainted with them can generally 
distinguish the tribes to which individuals belong. I have 
noticed that the slaves have a meaner appearance than the 
free men, and that those few small tribes who dwell inland 



22 PHYSICAL APPEARANCE. 

along lakes and rivers, and who live on a mixed diet of 
fish and flesh, have a finer stature and bearing than the 
fish-eaters on the coast. Of all the tribes in Vancouver 
Island the Klah-oh-quahts, who live in Klah-oh-quaht 
Sound, probably are, as a tribe, physically the finest.* 
Individuals may be found in all the tribes who reach a 
height of five feet eleven inches, and a weight of a hundred 
and eighty pounds, without much flesh on their bodies. 
The extreme average height of the men of the Aht nation 
ascertained by comparison of a number, is about five feet 
six inches, and of the women about five feet and a quarter 
of an inch — a stature which equals that of the New 
Zeaianders.f Many of the men have well-shaped forms 
and limbs. None are corpulent, and very few are 
deformed from their birth. I have, however, seen 
several who had been born crippled ; one, with withered 
crooked legs, stiff at the knees, was an excellent canoe - 
man. The men, as a rule, are better-looking than 
the women. The latter are not enticing, even when 
young, though one meets with some good-looking 
women, but these in a few years, after reaching woman- 
hood, lose their comeliness. They are short-limbed, 
and have an awkward habit of turning their toes in 

* " Klah-oh-quaht," in the native tongue, means " another people," but 
this tribe is now in every respect the same as the others. 

t The following ridiculous account of the Ahts is contained in the latest 
book in which they are mentioned : Abbe Domenech's Residence in the 
Great Deserts of North America. "The men (the Nootkahs) are below 
the middle height, with thick- set limbs, broad faces, low foreheads, and 
rough, coppery, and tanned skins. Their moral deformities are as great 
as their physical ones. Their dialect is exceedingly difficult, and the 
harshness of their pronunciation incredible." The abbe evidently knows 
nothing about the people. 



POWERS OF ENDURANCE OF NATIVES. 23 

too much when walking. The men generally have well- 
set, strong frames, and, if they had pluck and skill, 
could probably hold their own in a grapple with English- 
men of the same stature. They want heart, however, for 
a close struggle, and seldom come up after the first knock- 
down. The best place to strike them with the fist is on 
the throat, or on the breast, so as to take away their wind ; 
a blow on the head does them very little harm. The 
powers of endurance possessed by the natives are great in 
any work to wdiich they are accustomed, such as paddling, 
or rowing, or walking in the woods. I have had men with 
me from sunrise to sunset whilst exploring new districts 
where the walking tried one's powers to the utmost, and 
they scarcely seemed to feel the exertion.* The natives 
can bear the want of food for a long time without becoming 
exhausted. Their complexion is a dull brown, just about, 
perhaps, what the English complexion would be if the people 
were in a savage instead of a civilized condition — the differ- 
ence being explained by the habits of life of the Ahts, by 
their frequent exposure, and by the effect of their food of 
blubber, oil, and fish. The Queen Charlotte Islanders and 
other natives to the north are fairer in complexion than the 
Vancouverians, though living under the same conditions 

* It is an error to suppose that these fish-eating Indians become weak 
in the legs from constantly sitting or stooping in canoes ; mean-looking, 
thin-legged Ahts can travel for great distances in the woods without tiring. 
There is a fair proportion of well-limbed men among them. No finer men 
than the Queen Charlotte Islanders, a canoe-using people, can be found on 
the American continent ; they will stand up and fight Englishmen with 
their fists, though the Aht fails on this point. The notion of the Coast 
Indians being deficient in muscular power in their legs, probably arose from 
their legs being always seen uncovered, which is a severe ordeal for any 
people. If the men wore blankets, how many presentable legs would there 
be in an ordinary crowd of Englishmen ? 



24 PHYSICAL APPEARANCE. 

in a climate not much colder. Their young women's 
skins are as clear and white as those of Englishwomen. 
But it is different among the Ahts. Cook and Meares 
probably mentioned exceptional cases in stating that the 
natives of Nootkah had the fair complexions of the North 
of Europe. The prevailing colour of the people in Van- 
couver Island is unmistakeably, as here described, a sort 
of dull brown. During summer they are much in the 
open air, lightly clad, and in winter pass most of their 
time sitting round fires in a smoky atmosphere. All the 
natives swim well, but not so fast nor so lightly as 
Europeans ; they labour more in the water. As divers 
they cannot be beaten ; a friend of mine saw Maquilla, 
a noted warrior and fisherman of the Nitinahts, dive 
from the stern of a boat, in five fathoms of water, and 
bring up a pup seal in each hand from the bottom. 
On approaching the boat, one of the seals got away, but 
Maquilla, throwing the other into the boat, again dived 
and captured the seal before it could reach the bottom. 
Till beyond middle age many of the natives bathe every 
day in the sea, and in winter they rub their bodies with 
oil after coming out of the water.* The vapour-bath is not 
known on this coast/Mothers roll their young children 
in the snow to make them hardy. I should not call the 
Aht Indians a dirty people in their persons : they wash 
often, the fresh air circulates round their bodies, and they 
have not the disagreeable oniony smell about them which 
is common among the more closely attired poorer classes 

* Throughout the year, though the climate on the whole is milder than 
the English climate, the water in the sea round Vancouver Island is colder 
than on any part of the shores of Great Britain. 



TRACES OF OLD SPANISH SETTLEMENT. 25 

in many countries. After their day's work, the women 
arrange their dress and hair, and wash themselves in fresh 
water.* The men's dress is a blanket; the women's a 
strip of cloth, or shift, and blanket. The old costume 
of the natives w T as the same as at present, but the material 
was different ; for instance, a single robe of bearskin, or of 
four red catskins sewn together, was worn instead of a 
blanket. They use no covering for the head or feet except 
on canoe journeys, when hats and capes made of bark or 
grass are worn. There is no difference between summer 
and winter dresses, nor anything peculiar, on ordinary 
occasions, in the dress of the chiefs.// The men's beards 
and whiskers are deficient, probably from the old alleged 
custom, now seldom practised, of extirpating the hairs 
with small shells. This custom, continued from one 
generation to another, would perhaps at last produce a 
race distinguishable as these natives are by a thin and 
straggling growth of beard and whiskers. Several of the 
Nootkah Sound natives (Moouchahts) have large mous- 
taches and whiskers, and on that account are supposed 
to have Spanish or foreign blood in them. A few names 
and a cast of features reminding one of Spain, cross one 
here and there on this coast. I have heard an Indian 
from Nootkah count ten in Spanish. Few traces of the 
settlement at Nootkah remain, except an indistinct ridge 
showing the site of houses, and here and there a few 
bricks half hidden in the ground ; but the older natives 



* It is a characteristic of these natives, that men sometimes saunter 
along, holding each other's hand in a friendly way : a habit never 
to be observed in civilized life, except amongst boys, or sailors when 
intoxicated. 



26 PHYSICAL APPEARANCE. 

sometimes speak of the Spaniards. They say that the 
foreigners (who must have been Meares' men or the 
Spanish) had begun to cultivate the ground and to erect 
a stockade and fort, when one day a ship came with papers 
for the head man, who was observed to cry, and all the 
white men became sad. The next day they began moving 
their goods to the vessel. 

The hair of the natives is never shaven from the head. 
It is black or dark brown, without gloss, coarse and lank, 
but not scanty, worn long, and either tied in a bunch or 
knot at the crown without an attempt at ornament, or 
allowed to hang loosely from under a handkerchief or 
wreath of grass, or of feathered birdskin, encircling the 
head. A favourite place of concealment for a knife 
carried as a weapon is among the hair behind the ear. 
The practice of tying the hair behind the head in the 
Chinese fashion is said to be peculiar to the natives on 
the outside coast of the Island. Slaves wear their hair 
short. Now and then, but rarely, a light-haired native is 
seen. There is one woman in the Opechisaht tribe at 
Alberni who had curly, or rather wavy, brown hair. Few 
grey-haired men can be noticed in any tribe. I once saw 
a middle-aged native with red hair, and he seemed a pure 
Indian, but it is difficult to say whether he was so or 
not. The women are careful of their hair, and have little 
boxes in which they keep combs and looking-glasses. 
There is a small white -flowered plant, of about three feet 
in height, the bruised roots of which are put on their hair 
by the Indians to make it grow. One frequently sees the 
women combing their hair and afterwards disposing it on 
each side into plaits, which taper to a point, and are there 



PUNISHMENT OF NATIVES. 27 

ornamented with beads ; or it hangs loosely and is kept 
down by leaden weights affixed to the end. When at 
work the women tie up their hair so as not to be incon- 
venienced. ;; Unlike the men, they are fond of toys and 
ornaments for themselves and children, and are seldom 
seen without rings, anklets, and bracelets of beads or 
brass. Their blankets are often tastefully ornamented 
with beads. To cut off the hair of an Indian is an effective 
punishment for minor offences, as he is thereby exposed 
to the derision of his own people. The face of the Ahts 
is rather broad and flat ; the mouth and lips of both men 
and women are large, though to this there are exceptions, 
and the cheekbones are broad but not high. The skull 
is fairly shaped, the eyes small and long, deep set, in 
colour a lustreless inexpressive black or very dark hazel, 
none being blue, grey, nor brown. Some of the Chinese 
workmen brought to Nootkah eighty years ago by Meares, 
have no doubt left descendants among the Ahts. One 
occasionally sees an Indian with eyes distinctly Chinese. 
The nose, of all the features of the human face rarest for 
beauty, in some instances is remarkably well-shaped/ A 
brilliant ring or piece of cockleshell, or a bit of brass, 
shaped like a horse-shoe, often adorns this feature. 
Similar ornaments are worn in the ear by both sexes. 
The teeth are regular, but stumpy, and are deficient in 
enamel at the points, as some think from the natives' eating 
so much dried salmon with which sand has intermixed in 
the process of drying. 

No such practice as tatooing exists among these natives. 
At great feasts the faces of the women are painted red 
with vermilion or berry -juice, and the men's faces are 



28 PHYSICAL APPEARANCE. 

blackened with burnt wood. About the age of twenty-five 
the women cease to use paint, and for the remainder of their 
lives wear feathers in their hair for full dress. Some of 
the young men streak their faces with red, but grown-up 
men seldom now use paint, unless on particular occasions. 
Hair cut short and a blackened face are signs of grief ; at 
a time of rejoicing the face is also of that colour, except a 
space round the eyes ; but in war every portion of the 
visage is blackened, and the eyes glare through. The 
leader of a war expedition is distinguished by a streaked 
visage from his black- faced followers. 

The curious custom of moulding the heads of infants 
into a different shape from the natural form does not now 
extensively prevail among the Ahts, though almost every 
child's head receives a slight pressure, owing to the mode 
of resting in the cradle. The traveller leaves on this side 
of Cape Scott a people with fine, broad — though perhaps 
slightly flattened — foreheads, and heads well set on, and 
soon finds himself on the north side of the Cape, among 
the Quoquoulth nation, a people with disfigured heads, 
who speak a language different from that of the Ahts, 
though, of course, having many words in common, near 
the tribal boundaries. v In other parts of the Island, also, 
as well as among the Quoquoulth natives, the practice of 
moulding the head is followed, but it is principally among 
the latter people that heads have been seen of the real 
sugar-loaf shape. 1 I have never seen an Aht head so much 
distorted as the chief's head shown at page 317, vol. ii., in 
Wilson's Pre-Historic Man.' In Barclay (Nitinaht) Sound, 
where the Aht tribes have intermarried with the Flatheads, 
on the American shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, 



CUSTOM OF MOULDING THE HEAD. 29 

many of the natives are proud of such children as have 
their foreheads flattened, but they do not regard this dis- 
figurement as a sign of freedom, nor of high birth — as 
travellers have reported of the natives at the mouth of the 
Columbia river. The Ahts imagine that it improves the 
appearance, and also gives better health and greater 
strength to the infant. I could not satisfactorily discover 
whether the brain is injured by this change in the form of 
the skull. The natives say that no harm is done, but I 
have observed — from whatever cause the superiority arises 
— that several of the tribes of the Aht nation, the Klah-oh- 
quahts, for instance, who do not greatly flatten their heads, 
are superior to other tribes, not Ahts, known to me which 
flatten their heads excessively. This superiority, however, 
may be in the race : the Klah-oh-quahts, for instance — 
which, from their name, are probably a foreign tribe now 
assimilated to the other Aht tribes — may have originally 
possessed a superior organization to any others. It is 
extremely difficult to compare the intellectual faculties of 
any two tribes of suspicious, reserved, and weak-minded 
savages, without a particular acquaintance with both tribes, 
and a knowledge of their language and subjects of thought, 
their politics and management of individual and tribal affairs; 
but I may say that the general opinion which I have formed 
with respect to these natives is that the flattening of the 
skull in infancy cannot decisively be said to injure the 
intellect. The process by which the deformity is effected 
is similar to that described by Irving as usual with the 
Coast Indians near the Columbia river. The infant is 
laid, soon after birth, on a small wooden cradle higher at the 
head than the foot. A padding is placed on the forehead, 



30 PHYSICAL APPEARANCE. 

and is pressed down with cords, which pass through holes 
on each side of the trough or cradle ; these being tightened 
gradually the required pressure is obtained, and after a time 
the front of the skull is flattened. The covering or padding 
is filled with sand, or sometimes a maple mould is made to 
fit the forehead. It is said that the process is not painful, 
but some of the children, whom I saw undergoing the com- 
pression, seemed to breathe slowly, and their faces were 
pale. The origin of this singular custom cannot with 
certainty be ascertained. It may have been adopted to 
celebrate some particular event, or in honour of a great 
warrior whose head was naturally of that form. It is a 
fashion; that is all that can be said about it. During 
infancy the native children are big-headed and ugly, and 
are subject to eruptive diseases, but in a few years they 
become interesting and sprightly in appearance and man- 
ners. They are plump and fresh-looking, with smooth 
skins of a rich brown colour. About the age of puberty— 
which in both sexes is early — the visage of the men 
assumes the composure, and displays the cold serious 
traits of the savage. The eye, particularly, has a hard 
furtive expression that was not there in childhood.* After 
having reached a vigorous age, no other important stage 
takes place till their manhood fails, when the Aht natives 
become thin and wrinkled in a short time. They do not 
seem to have any intermediate stage in their existence 
corresponding with the attractive time in an Englishman's 

* The face of the Indian, while it conceals present thoughts, seems to me 
to be a much more open book than the face of the white man in expressing 
settled character. It shows the very normal types of the vices plainly 
printed in the features, most especially those of anger, cunning, and 
pride. 



RAPID DECAY OF MANLY STRENGTH. 31 

life between full manhood and the first steps that lead 
downwards into age. They are either vigorous or weak, 
young-looking or old-looking. I have known many Indians 
who have become quite old in appearance within the five 
years since I first saw them. 



( 32 ) 



CHAPTER V. 

PURSUIT OF A FUGITIVE. 

Strength of the Natives' Eingers — Speed in Kunning— Skill in Paddling — 
Escape of a Eugitive. 



You have not seen such a thing as it is ; 
I can hardly forbear hurling things at him. 

Twelfth Night. 



The Upper Canadians and the men of the Northern and 
Western States of the United States are the finest-looking 
men I have anywhere seen, with the exception, perhaps, of 
the Queen Charlotte Islanders, on the North-west of British 
Columbia. I thought so on seeing them in their homes 
in Canada and America, and my estimate was confirmed 
by the appearance of the British Columbian population 
and the inhabitants of my own settlement, who chiefly 
were of these nationalities. Finer men cannot be seen, in 
face and figure, than among the miners and woodmen, say, 
at a race-meeting in Beacon Hill Park, near Victoria, 
Vancouver Island, any summer afternoon. I had on an 
average about 270 men at Alberni — perhaps three-fourths 
of these Canadians and Americans — stalwart, handsome 
fellows, accustomed to work with their hands. One day, 



STRENGTH OF THE NATIVES FINGERS. 33 

when the vessels were discharging cargo into the ware- 
house, we amused ourselves by trying who could carry 
round the room, on two fingers, the governor of a steam- 
engine — a mass of metal like a 10-inch shell — and not one 
of us could carry it half the distance. A middle-sized 
Indian, who was present, carried it round the warehouse 
apparently with ease. The constant use of the paddle may 
be supposed to make the ringers of the Indians strong ; 
but would the use of the axe from childhood not also 
strengthen the ringers of the woodmen ? Why should the 
fingers of a comparatively small Indian be stronger than 
the fingers of a powerful American woodman ? The gene- 
rally prevalent opinion, as regards the hand of the Indians, 
was that it exceeded the white man's hand in power. On 
a certain occasion, a disturbance having arisen, I armed 
my men, warning them earnestly not to strike or fire till 
the last extremity. Every one answered that if the Indians 
came to close quarters and grasped their clothes, they 
could not disengage the Indians' hold without drawing 
blood. The blanket worn by the Indians is a convenient 
garment in a close struggle. One of my men who had 
watched an Indian potato-stealer for weeks, gripped him at 
last one night by slipping round a tree upon him as he was 
filling his bag ; but the savage got off by pulling out the 
bone skewer that fastened his blanket at the neck, and by 
running naked across the potato-beds into the thick wood. 
If an Indian is unarmed, one can hold him only by seizing 
his hair ; if he has a weapon about his person, he should 
not be seized at all, but should be knocked down. The 
Indians, as already stated, often carry a knife concealed 
behind the ear in their long hair. 

3 



U PURSUIT OF A FUGITIVE. 

The Aht Indian runs well, but does not equal the 
Englishman in running. In pursuing a native in the 
open, he should always be turned from the forest, as, when 
once there, nothing but a hound can follow him. In 
November, 1864, on a day so dreary and snowy that we 
could not work, word reached the settlement that a noto- 
riously bad Indian, who, we were well aware, had committed 
several murders, and was under sentence of imprisonment, 
but who had escaped from the constable in 1862, was 
visiting his married daughter at a temporary Indian hut 
on the bank of the Klistachnit Eiver, about a mile from 
Alberni. Taking with me John Eyloc, a New Brunswick 
shipwright, a quick runner and a first-rate oarsman and 
paddler, with five other trusty men, all unarmed, and 
putting my six-barrelled Adams' revolver in my own belt, 
I went up the river in a boat, and landed on the bank a 
few hundred yards below the hut, towards which we walked, 
Before the inmates discovered our approach, we had sur- 
rounded the hut. Cautiously entering the doorway, I 
looked into the apartment, and saw no one but the son-in- 
law of the fugitive and two women sitting by the fire, who 
sprang to their feet on observing me. A noise outside 
attracted my attention, and, on going out, I found that 
the savage we wanted to capture had sprung unobserved 
from an opening at a corner of the hut, and was making 
for the wood at full speed over the snow. Eyloc was 
in pursuit, and having gained on him quickly, notwith- 
standing the disadvantage of shoes (which get clogged 
in the snow), the Indian abandoned his intention of 
reaching the wood, and turned towards a near point on 
the river. We ran to intercept him, but he reached the 



SKILL IN PADDLING. 35 

bank, and, throwing off his blanket, plunged into the 
stream. The excitement in our party was now so great 
that one of my men ran towards me, seized my arm, and 
almost ordered me to shoot, or he would escape. The 
fugitive had risen to the surface, and was swimming 
towards a canoe that was quite out of our reach, tied to a 
drift tree in the river. I covered him several times with 
my pistol, in the excitement of the moment ; but had no 
intention of firing, especially as two of my own men had 
got into a small canoe some w T ay down the stream, and 
were paddling up stream towards the coveted canoe. The 
Indian reached it, however, first. He looked to see if 
the canoe contained a paddle, then eagerly grasped the 
welcome instrument. His pursuers, by this time, were 
perhaps twenty yards from him, and were labouring with 
powerful, but unequal and unskilful strokes against the 
rapid current. We on the bank were not more than thirty 
yards distant. The river was about 250 yards wide. It 
was beautiful to see how boldly the Indian, now seated in 
a canoe, shot athwart his pursuers, and how skilfully he 
forced his light skiff both up and across the stream, while 
our men lost ground greatly in attempting to slant their 
canoe and follow him. There were more than fifty yards 
between the two canoes when the Indian reached the 
wooded bank opposite, and plunged into the forest. We, 
of course, then lost him. I believe he never again came 
near the settlement. As our party retraced their steps to 
the boat, cold, weary, and disappointed, I could see that 
my not having fired at this fellow was not approved by my 
companions. During the whole time of the pursuit, the 
two women, — one of them, as above named, the fugitive's 

3—2 



SB ESCAPE OF A FUGITIVE. 

daughter, — squatted near me and scolded bitterly. " You a 
chief! " repeated they. " You pretend to be a chief; and 
try to steal our papa ! You a chief ! You are a common 
man. So-and-so " (naming one of the foremen) "is a 
high chief. You are no chief at all." They are adepts in 
scolding ; and it was done, in this case, so vigorously that 
I could not laugh at them. Next day the same women 
were quite friendly and chatty when they saw me at the 
settlement. Their papa, they said, was now far beyond 
nry reach. 

I remember many instances of Indians having escaped 
from us through their skill in swimming, and paddling, and 
travelling through the woods. The management by a 
single Indian of a canoe in crossing a rapid stream cannot 
be surpassed. At the same time, I may observe that I 
have seen a trained crew of white men beat a crew of 
Indians in a long canoe race on the sea. The civilized 
man seems to have more bottom in him, when the exertion 
is intense and prolonged. 



( 37 ) 



CHAPTER VI. 

HOUSES. 

Houses of the Ahts — Custom of Changing Quarters — Mode of Shifting an 
Encampment — No Appreciation of Natural Scenery — Description of 
DwelliDgs and Furniture. 

Carrying his own home still, still is at home. — Donne. 

A fish : he smells like a fish ; a very ancient and fishlike smell. 

Shakspeare. 



The. framework or fixed portion of the houses in an Indian 
village here belongs to individuals, generally to subordinate 
chiefs, or to men of some station in the tribe. The name 
of the owner of the framework of any division of the house 
is given to the division formed by such framework for 
the use of a family, when the whole encampment is 
planked in for occupation. The planking is a joint 
contribution from the inmates. It is customary for the 
natives to shift their encampments several times during 
the year, so as to be near good fishing and root and 
fruit grounds. They cannot, however, be strictly con- 
sidered as- migratory tribes, as they always move to the 
same places, according to the season, and these different 
encampments are not far apart. The framework of the 



38 HOUSES— removal: 

building is never removed, so that planking the sides and 
roofs is the only work on re-occupation. Planks required 
for repairing the houses are made during winter, j /Follow- 
ing the salmon as they swim up the rivers and inlets, the 
natives place their summer encampments at some distance 
from the seaboard, towards which they return for the winter 
season about the end of October, with a stock of dried 
salmon — their principal food at all times. By this arrange- 
ment, being near the seashore, they can get shell-fish, if 
their stock of salmon runs short, and can also catch the 
first fish that approach the shore in the early spring. 
Every tribe, however, does not thus regularly follow the 
salmon ; some of the tribes devote a season to whale- 
fishing, or to the capture of the dog-fish, and supply 
themselves with salmon by barter with other tribes. If 
the natives did not thus often move their quarters, their 
health would suffer from the putrid fish and other nasti- 
nesses that surround their camps, which the elements and 
the birds clear away during the time of non-occupation. 
They remove in the following manner from an encamp- 
ment : — Two large canoes are placed about six feet apart , 
and connected by planks — the sides and roofs of the 
houses — laid transversely upon each other, so as to form 
a wide deck the whole length of the canoe, space enough 
for one man being reserved at the bow and stern. On this 
deck are baskets full of preparations of salmon-roe, dried 
salmon, and other fish, together with wooden boxes con- 
taining blankets and household articles. The women and 
children sit in a small space purposely left for them. I 
have seen the goods piled on these rafts as high as four- 
teen feet from the water. Each canoe is managed by two 



SITE OF AN ENCAMPMENT. 39 

men, who, with the women and children, often raise a 
cheery song as they float down the stream with all their 
goods and chattels. The principal men send slaves or 
others to prepare their quarters, and among the common 
people it is understood beforehand who shall live together 
at the new encampment. A willing, handy poor man some- 
times is invited to live for the winter with a richer family, 
for whom he works for a small remuneration. The houses 
of the natives at their winter camping-grounds are large 
and strongly constructed. I have seen a row of houses 
stretching along the bank of a stream for the third of a 
mile, with a varying breadth, inside the buildings, of from 
twenty-five to forty feet, and a height of from ten to twelve. 
Cedar {Thuja gigantea) is the wood used in making the 
houses. Far from presenting a mean appearance, some 
of the permanent winter encampments on this coast 
suggest to us what the wooden halls of the old Northern 
nations in Europe may have been like. They are far 
superior, as human dwellings, to the hovels in Connaught, 
or the mud cabins in the west of Sutherland. The village 
sites are generally well chosen, and, though not selected 
for any other reason than nearness to firewood and water, 
and safety against a surprise, are often beautiful, occu- 
pying picturesquely the made * ground at the bend of a 
river, or a spot near some pleasant brook, where fantastic- 
masses of rock, or the dense mixed forests, keep off the 
wind.f At such places, occupied for centuries year after 

* This " made " ground consists of mud or earth, partly deposited from 
the river itself, and partly washed from the bank of the stream. This 
washing takes place especially at any bend or turn in the river. 

f It is not my belief that these savages select pretty spots for their village 
sites, or that they have any appreciation of natural scenery. The notion that 



40 HOUSES. 

year, shell - mounds have been formed, like the Danish 
" kitchen refuse heaps/' and from some of these in Van- 
couver Island, on their being dug through, the materials 
for information respecting a past time may yet be got. 
A row of round posts, a foot thick, and from ten to twelve 
feet high, placed twenty feet apart and slightly hollowed 
out at the top, is driven firmly into the ground to form 
the framework of the lodge. These posts are connected by 
strong cross-pieces, over which, lengthwise, the roof-tree is 
placed — a stick sometimes of twenty inches diameter and 
eighty or ninety feet long, hewn neatly round by the 
mussel-adze, and often to be seen blackened by the smoke 
of several generations. Some of the inside main-posts 
often have great faces carved on them.* Heavy timbers 
cap the side-posts, and across from these to the roof-tree 
smaller cross-poles are laid, which support the roof. The 

they find a charm in contemplating the beauties of nature while resting hour 
after hour on the grass near their houses, seems to me to have no foundation. 
It is easy to imagine, from an Indian's attitude, that he is watching tranquilly 
the floating clouds, or the light waves on the surface of the water, or that his 
ear enjoys the pleasant murmuring of the leaves ; but the chances are, I 
imagine, that the savage either gazes with a dull eye on vacancy, or is half 
asleep. His rude, coarse organization cannot receive the impressions of which 
more civilized, elevated natures are susceptible. If his fancy roves, the 
images before the mind of the savage will be gross and common, and very 
different from the beautiful conceptions which a refined intelligence would 
form. The woods, to him, merely shelter beasts ; an angry spirit makes a 
ripple on the water ; and every shadow of a cloud causes alarm. The 
immediate necessities of his life, vague fears of the future, an unavenged 
wrong, or some torturing suspicions, fill the mind of the savage, and unfit 
him even for the sensuous enjoyment of fine scenery and climate. 

* These are not idols, but rude artistic efforts undertaken without any 
view to symbolize the notions which the natives have of Quawteaht as a 
higher being. I could not find that the Ahts possessed any symbols or 
images that could be properly called idols, as objects of religious or super- 
stitious veneration. 



CONSTRUCTION OF BUILDINGS. 41 

roof is formed of broad cedar boards, sometimes seen of five 
feet in width by two inches thick, overlaid so as to turn 
off water. The roof is not quite flat, but has a slight 
pitch from the back part. The sides of the house are 
made of the same material as the roof — the boards over- 
lapping and being tied together with twigs between slender 
upright posts fixed into the ground. The building is now 
complete, except that the inmates have no place for the 
reception of goods. To get this, a sort of duplicate inside 
building is made by driving into the ground, close to the 
exterior upright posts, smaller posts shorter by about two 
feet. Small trees are tied to these shorter inside posts, 
one end of each tree being fastened to an inside post on 
one side of the house, about two feet below the top of this 
inside post, and the other end tied in a similar manner to 
the opposite short post on the other side of the house. At 
right angles to these small trees, slender poles are laid, on 
which the natives stow all sorts of things — onions, fern- 
roots, mats, packages of roe, dried fish, guns, and hunting 
and fishing instruments. There is no ceiling, and, with 
the exception of these poles, the interior is open to the roof. 
For about a foot deep inside of the building the earth is 
hollowed out, and on the outside a strong stockade of split 
cedar is sometimes erected, about six feet from the walls. 
At the Ohyaht village, in Nitinaht (or Barclay) Sound, 
I have seen a loopholed stockade of this kind, erected so 
as to face almost the only beach in the neighbourhood on 
which an enemy could land. The Nitinahts also have a 
fortified village. The houses of the Ahts are without 
windows, and the entrances are small, and usually at a 
corner of some division of the building. The chimney 



42 INTTERIOR ARRANGEMENTS. 

consists of a shifting board in the roof. There is access 
from division to division of the house. The inside is 
divided for family occupation into large squares, partitioned 
for four feet in height ; in the middle of each square is the 
fire burning on a ring of stones ; and round the sides of 
these squares are wooden couches, raised nine inches from 
the ground,* and covered with six or eight soft mats for 
bedding. A more comfortable bed to rest upon I do not 
know, and the wooden pillow, nicely fitting the head of 
the sleeper, and covered with mats, is a good contrivance. 
Boxes are piled between the couches, and also in the 
corners of these rooms or divisions. The floor is un- 
covered. There are no prescribed seats in these divisions 
for the different members of the family. All the houses 
are so much alike, and the habits of the natives differ so 
little, that in a night attack the stealthy enemy can enter, 
and in the dark know where to strike the sleepers. A 
strong fish-like smell, and rather more pungent smoke 
than is agreeable, salute the nose and eyes of the careless 
traveller who enters the Aht dwellings. The outside, 
however, is the worst, for the whole refuse of the camp 
is thrown there ; and, not being offensive to the organs 
of the natives, is never removed. A pinch of snuff and 
a toothful of good brandy are very grateful to one who 
picks his way among the putrid fish and castaway mollusks 
that cover the ground. The principal occupant lives at 
the extreme end, on the left of the building as you walk 

* It is worthy of remark that in several villages on the north-east of 
Vancouver Island, and in nearly all on the coast of British Columbia, the 
Indian houses are divided into small rooms. I have not seen a house so 
divided on the west coast of the island. It probably is an imitation 
of white men's houses. 



PLAGES OF OCCUPANTS. 43 

up from the main door; the next in rank at the nearer 
end, on the left as one enters ; the intermediate spaces 
being occupied by the common people. The half bulk- 
heads between the different families are removed on great 
occasions, and the whole building kept clear,* 

* The Indians saw our carpenters at work constantly, and were present 
at the building of perhaps a hundred wooden houses— both log-houses and 
frame-houses— yet, though furnished with sawn wood and the necessary tools 
and appliances, they built their new houses exactly like their old ones, never 
altering nor improving them, 



44 ) 



CHAPTER VII. 

A JUSTICE OF THE PEACE ON CIRCUIT. 

A Mutinous Crew — My Canoe stolen— Left upon an Island — George the 
Pirate — Stormv Sea — Sensations from Freezing — Samaritan Wood- 



JSature, whilst fears her bosom chill, 

Suspends her pow'rs, and life stands still. — Churchill. 



The comfort of even such a house as the Indians have is 
never so much felt, as when one has no house at all to sleep 
in. I remember one night when the poorest hut would have 
delighted me. During the afternoon a request had reached 
me that I would visit officially, as a magistrate, an English 
ship which had put into Nitinaht (or Barclay) Sound with a 
discontented crew. I went to the ship in a canoe manned 
by six Indians, and found her at an anchorage about forty- 
five miles from our settlement. After spending a night and 
the greater part of the next day on board, I succeeded in 
inducing the crew to lift the anchor and set the sails. 
They made some petty complaints, but the truth was they 
had a weak captain, and did not wish to proceed with the 
vessel. My canoe was alongside, the ship was beginning 



ISLAND SOLITUDE. 45 

to move slowly through the water, and I was signing some 
papers for the captain, when a sudden hailstorm struck the 
vessel, and obscured the whole deck for several minutes. 
When the squall passed I prepared to depart, but on 
looking over the side found that my canoe was gone. The 
boatswain of the ship also was missing ; he had sprung 
into the canoe during the squall, and had satisfied the 
Indians hy some story of my going to sea in the vessel, 
that it would be according to my wishes if they proceeded 
with him alone — at all events the canoe was nowhere t& be 
seen. Here was a pretty situation — several miles from the 
mainland, night approaching, the ship increasing her 
speed every minute, and the sea becoming rough. I need 
not relate at length how the ship managed to land me with- 
out again casting anchor. Suffice it to say, that after several 
hours I was landed, in the ship's gig, on a small wooded 
island near the entrance of Nitinaht (or Barclay) Sound; the 
boat returned to the ship, and she stood away and disap- 
peared in the evening gloom. I had a pocketful of biscuits 
with me, but no blankets, as I expected to find an Indian 
encampment on the other side of the island. This chance 
failed me, however ; for after scrambling across the island 
to the village, I found it empty — the Indians had moved 
to other fishing quarters. The night was falling, and there 
was nothing for it but to light a fire, and sit down beside 
it to chew a biscuit, and to wish the boatswain some well- 
deserved punishment. He was, no doubt, by this time far 
on his way, in my fine canoe, to some decent place of 
shelter. The want of a blanket I felt most ; one does not 
like, on a January evening, to lie down at the foot even of 
a suitable tree without a covering of some sort. I sat bv 



40 HAILING A CANOE. 

the fire till about midnight, and then made a bed of young 
fir-branches, and drawing several branches over me, fell 
asleep, with my feet towards the fire. The cold awoke me 
early in the morning, and I got up and moved about the 
island, and seated myself finally on an elevated rock, from 
which I could see numerous other small islands, and a 
considerable part of the open water of the Sound. I took 
a breakfast of biscuits here, and looked out anxiously for 
some Indian canoe. I at last saw one crossing the Sound, 
a long way off, and waved a handkerchief to attract atten- 
tion. The Indians made no sign, but changed their course 
slightly in my direction. I kept on waving till I was 
certain they saw me, and then sat down to wait their 
pleasure. It was a wretched small canoe, with a man and 
woman in it. They did not come on steadily within hail- 
ing distance, but stopped now and then and talked, and 
then paddled a little way farther. Coming near at last, I 
shouted, " Are you Seshahts ? " to which they replied by 
a great hoarse laugh, after the manner of the Indians. 
"Seshahts?" I again shouted interrogatively, and they 
answered, "No, Ohyahts." " Very well," said I, "come 
and take me to the Ohyaht village." The answer to this 
was another guffaw, and an objection that the canoe was 
too small. All this time they were endeavouring to find 
the real reason of one white man being there without a 
boat, and at the same time they were manoeuvring for a 
hard bargain. I agreed to give them all they asked, and 
finally was taken by them to the village of the Ohyahts — 
three or four miles distant. 

My first inquiry was for George the Pirate, a noted 
Ohyaht murderer and scoundrel, but a very good paddler. 



A CANOE VOYAGE. 47 

On coming forward, he at once recognized me, and I began 
to be treated with distinction, which, in view of the 
inevitable bargain for a canoe, I was rather sorry for, as 
chiefs in this part are expected to pay like chiefs for every- 
thing they have. Kleeshin, the head chief of the Ohyahts, 
was sent for, and he invited me into his house, and spread 
a clean mat on a box for me to sit upon. After many ques- 
tions and answers, we came to business. I wanted a large 
canoe, with six Indians, to take me quickly to Alberni. Such 
a canoe, I ascertained, could not be got — there were no 
large canoes at the village ; so it was finally agreed that 
Kleeshin and scoundrel George should take me in George's 
small canoe, at the hire of three blue blankets. They 
insisted on this agreement being written on paper, to 
which, though unable to read it, they attached great 
importance. 

We started about nine o'clock, and kept close to the 
shore, as the Indians generally do. About eleven the wind 
rose, and snow began to fall. We passed a point on which 
a dog was howling piteously. Kleeshin said this dog had 
been abandoned by the Indians. Entering the long canal 
described in the first chapter, the work became very stiff, as 
the sea was rough and the wind blew against the canoe ; but 
the two paddlers worked hour after hour with regularity and 
vigour, and without speaking a word. I was told after- 
wards that we were in great danger during the whole of 
this time, and that nothing saved us but the extraordinary 
skill of Kleeshin and George with the paddles. The sea 
was rougher than they had expected, and there was no 
landing-place, and to go back was as bad as to go on. I 
was sitting with my back to the stern of the canoe where 



48 SNOWED UP IN A CANOE. 

Kleeshin was, but saw every movement of George the bow 
paddler ; and not being aware of any danger, I watched 
his action with admiration. His manner showed no ex- 
citement ; hour after hour his shoulder and arm worked 
like part of a steam-engine, and when an angry curling 
wave came close to the gunwale, he cut the top of it 
lengthwise with his paddle, and not a drop came on board. 
The snow all this time continued to fall ; I was sitting 
on the bottom of the canoe, without any power of changing 
my position, and the flakes gathered round my feet and 
legs in spite of all my endeavours to free myself from their 
soft embrace. It was a long time before I felt any alarm ; 
but when the line of foam on the steep rocks showed the 
impossibility of landing anywhere, and I remembered we 
were only half-way on our journey, a sort of dread crept 
over me. Using my hands as a scoop, I shovelled the 
snow 7 out of the canoe : still, hour after hour passed, and 
the snow never ceased to fall. I spoke to the Indian in 
front, but he did not reply, nor make any sign that he 
heard me speaking. Mile after mile was thus slowly 
passed, and I recollect fancying that I felt the cold less, 
and that I should be warmer if the snow quite covered my 
legs. When, in changing his paddle for another lying in 
the canoe, George accidentally struck my leg, I remember 
it seemed odd to me that I should see and not feel some- 
thing striking my leg. After that it was all like a dream ; 
I seemed to be resting on a soft couch, in a great hall 
lighted by numerous lamps shedding a pleasant light, 
and beautiful people were tending me, and there were 
strains of music in the air. The fact was the cold was 
becoming too much for me. Then the scene changed to a 



RECOVERY FROM FREEZING. 49 

rough hut, lighted imperfectly by a huge fire of logs under 
a large chimney in the middle of the hut, at some distance 
from which fire I was propped up by two strong woodmen, 
who were rubbing my legs. The pleasant words, " I guess, 
Jim, he's thawing," recalled me to earth from the land of 
dreams, and I began to estimate the whole position exactly, 
though I pould as yet not utter a word, but only laugh 
in recognition of my attendants' kindness. Having had 
a warm dry shirt and drawers put on, I tumbled into 
a bunk, under a heap of blankets, and awoke next morning 
quite myself again. We were a long way from the settle- 
ment ; but, fortunately for me, several of the men engaged 
in rafting timber happened to have occupied an old hut for 
the night ; and the Indians, seeing the light and becoming 
aware of my condition, had steered for the place, and had 
succeeded in landing safely, though with damage to their 
canoe. I had no very kindly feelings towards the boatswain 
who was the cause of this mischance. 



( 50 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

DOMESTIC MANNERS. 

Winter the time for Feasts— Domestic Manners ; Fondness for Jokes and 
Gossip— Rarity of Serious Quarrels ; Ignorance of Fisticuffs— Un- 
willingness to labour — Appetite, Meals, Food and Drinks, Cooking ; 
Gathering Gammass Roots ; Cutting down Crab-apple Trees in 
Despair— Hospitality to Friendly Unexpected Visitors — Observance 
of Formalities in Social Intercourse. 



Come ; our stomachs 
Will make what 's homely, savoury ; weariness 
Can snore upon the flint. — Shakspeare. 



In fine seasons, the Ahts, following the salmon up the 
inlets and streams, have been known not to return to their 
winter quarters till the end of November. A month sooner, 
however, is about the usual time. Mirth then prevails, as 
the whole tribe is gathered like a family round a fireside. 
There is a general holiday and time of feasting, called 
Klooh-quahn-nah, which ends about the middle of January, 
soon after which time the natives begin to look for fish that 
approach the inlets on the coast in the spring. The winter 
season is the time when, if one knew the Aht language 
thoroughly, and had the stomach and nose to live actually 



RARENESS OF QUARRELLING. 51 

amongst them, their ways could be best learnt. The 
natives delight in gossip and scandal, and the strangest 
rumours circulate freely through every camp. 

What talks there will be in the smoky houses about the 
past fishing season, the conduct of other tribes, the doings of 
the white men ! These natives are not at all times so grave 
as out of doors they appear to us. "When relieved from 
the presence of strangers, they have much easy and social 
conversation among themselves. Eound their own fires 
they sing and chat, and the older men, lying and bragging 
after the manner of story-tellers, recount their feats in war 
or the chase to a listening group. Jokes pass freely, and 
the laugh is long, if not loud. According to our notions, 
the conversation is frequently coarse and indecent. A 
common fireside amusement is to tease the women till they 
become angry, which always produces great merriment. 
The men rarely quarrel except with their tongues, and a 
blow is seldom given. If struck in anger it must be paid 
for next day with a present, unless the striker chooses to 
leave the dispute between himself and his opponent 
open. The respect entertained for the head of the 
family is, however, generally speaking, sufficient to pre- 
serve order within the family circle. Quarrelling is also 
rare among the children. The use of the doubled fist 
as a means of offence is quite unknown among these 
people, and seemed at first very much to surprise them. 
I have never witnessed a fight between two sober natives ; 
when drunk, they seek close quarters and pull each other's 
hair. When there is no dancing, their evenings are passed 
round the fire, and, as the stories slacken, they retire one 
by one to their couches. They sleep in the same blankets 

4—2 



52 DOMESTIC MANNERS. 

which they use during the day. To judge by their snoring, 
the natives seem to sleep rather heavily than otherwise. 
They rise from their beds at an early hour in the morning. 
The women go to bed first, and are up first in the morning 
to prepare breakfast. In their own work, among them- 
selves, I should not call these Ahts a very lazy people, 
though they have no regular occupation, and though, from 
the toiling Englishman's point of view, they are the reverse 
of industrious.* They have a good deal to do in making 
house utensils, nets, canoes, paddles, weapons, and imple- 
ments. The high chiefs, of course, are mere gentlemen at 
large. I have seen Indians hard at work on canoes in the 
woods at five o'clock on an autumn morning, a long way 
from their houses {see canoe-making, page 85). (Their 
appetite is capricious and not easily appeased; but when 
necessary, they have great power of abstaining from food. 
When at work, only two small meals are taken — in the 
morning and evening ; but, when not at work, cooking 
continues all day, and as many as six or eight meals are 

* When I first employed Indians at Alberni, the price of their labour 
was two blankets and rations of biscuits and molasses for a month's work 
for each man, if he worked the whole time. The Indians became very 
tired after labouring for ten days or a fortnight, and many forfeited the 
wages already earned, rather than endure longer the misery of regular 
labour. It was instructive, yet almost painful to witness the struggle 
between the strong acquisitive instincts of the savage, and the real mental 
and physical difficulty and pain caused by the stated regularity of the 
hours for work and for meals. Some of the Indians became fair work- 
"men, and their labour was worth half-a-dollar a day and rations, or about 
one-third the value of an ordinary white labourer's work ; but, on the whole, 
I found that the Indians were unprofitable workmen. They make better 
sailors than labourers ; a Tsclahllam slave from the opposite side of the 
straits of Fuca, whom we named Quartermaster Jack, often took the wheel 
of the screw-steamer Thames in inland waters, on the way to Alberni. He 
could see in the dark like a racoon. 



FOOD. 53 

eaten.// The principal food of the natives, as before alluded 
to, is fish — salmon, whale, halibut, seal, herring, anchovy, 
and shell-fish of various kinds. Their commonest article of 
food at all times is dried salmon; whale-blubber, prepara- 
tions of salmon roe, and the heads of smaller fish are 
esteemed delicacies. They are particularly fond of picking 
bones] f Twenty years ago, when few trading vessels visited 
the coast, the Ahts probably were restricted to a diet of 
fish, wild berries, and roots ; but they now use also for food, 
flour, potatoes, rice, and molasses. This change of food, 
from what I saw of its effect on two tribes with whom I 
lived, has proved to be very injurious to their health. 

7 The dogfish is occasionally eaten, but is generally caught 
for the sake of its oil, to barter with the whites* Fur- 
seals and sea-otters are diligently pursued for their furs, but 
few good furs are got without going much farther north than 
any part of Vancouver Island. Only a few individuals in any 
tribe follow the chase ; but there are always some hunters 
who pursue the bear, beaver, mink, marten and racoon for 
their skins.// Geese, ducks, and deer are also used as food, 
but are not so w r ell liked as fish, and are seldom kept in 
stock. The marrow of animals is esteemed a great delicacy 
by all the natives. jJ They seem to be very improvident, or 
rather, perhaps, are unable to calculate their probable 
wants ; and it happens sometimes that they are in straits 
for want of food, when the fish do not appear until late in 
the spring. Becoming weak and thin, they blacken their 
faces to hide their altered looks. What we call the 
refuse of birds and fish, particularly the head, is esteemed 
by the natives. // When the canoes return to shore 
from fishing, the men fill the baskets with the fish, 



54 COOKERY. 

and place them on the women's shoulders. The latter, 
assisted by the slaves, immediately cut off the heads, open, 
and wash the fish, press out the water, and afterwards 
hang them up to dry in the smoke without salt. The roe 
is made into cakes or rolls, which are hung up and smoked. 
The commonest way of cooking fish or flesh is by spitting 
it on cedar sticks placed near the fire./ Whale-blubber 
and pieces of seal are prepared for food by being boiled in 
a wooden dish, into which hot stones are thrown to heat 
the water. A kind of gravy soup is also made from pieces 
of fish. Another mode of cooking is to cover the fire with 
stones, on which water is sprinkled and the fish placed, 
mats saturated with fresh water being thrown over all. In 
this way as many as fifty salmon are cooked at once, and 
no better mode could be desired. When used immediately 
as food, the head, backbone, ribs, and tail are separated 
from the rest of the body, the heads and tails are strung 
together and dried, and the backbone, which has a large 
portion of the fish adhering to it, is generally eaten first. )\ 
As a corrective of the injurious effects of a continued 
fish and animal diet, various plants are used by the natives 
as food. The kammass, — a species of lily common in the 
north and north-west of America, so called originally, it 
is supposed, by the early French fur-trading voyageurs, 
but known to the Ahts as gammass, — comes into flower 
about the middle or end of April, and remains in flower 
till June, when it is in a condition to be gathered. 
Before that time its root is watery and unpalatable. The 
gathering of the gammass is the most picturesque of all 
Indian employments./ One could hardly wish in his 
honeymoon, or in any like happy time, for a pleasanter 



THE GAMMAS8 LILY. 55 

dwelling than the little bush camps which the natives 
form in the gammass districts. It is pleasant to lie on the 
fern in these cosy abodes, and smoke, and read one of those 
old books of travel too wonderful by half to be produced 
in these days. This useful plant is found also in 
Oregon, and the root is there roasted until black, and is 
preserved in cakes. In Vancouver Island it is roasted and 
preserved whole in bags for winter use. The gammass 
has an agreeable sweetish taste, and, from the great 
quantity of starchy matter which it contains, is justly 
esteemed one of the most wholesome of the Indian 
edibles. // It grows only in small quantities on the west 
coast, and is taken thither as an article of traffic from the 
south of the island, particularly from the neighbourhood 
of Victoria, where there are excellent gammass districts. 
One of the bitterest regrets of the natives is that the 
encroachment of the whites is rapidly depriving them of 
their crops of this useful and almost necessary plant. 
They have never attempted to increase the production of 
gammass by any kind of cultivation. 

The roots of the common fern or bracken are much 
used as a regular meal. They are simply washed and 
boiled, or beaten with a stone, till they become soft, and 
are then roasted. All the different kinds of berries are a 
favourite food, either fresh plucked from the bush, or when 
pressed into cakes for use in winter. The gathering of 
berries in the woods by parties of natives, during the lovely 
summer and autumn days, is a pleasant and favourite occu- 
pation of the women and children. The tender shoots of 
several species of rubus are eaten as a delicacy or relish 
during the summer, as the shoots of the sweet-briar are 



56 GRAB-APPLES PRIZED. 

eaten in Scotland. Canoes may be seen quite laden with 

these shoots. Hazel-nuts and sal-al berries are used in 

autumn. Many species of seaweed are collected for food, 

and one species is pressed into cakes for winter use. The 

dog-tooth violet, wild onions, and the roots or young 

shoots of several other plants that grow on the coast, form 

the food of the Indians at different times of the year. 

Crab-apples are wrapped in leaves and preserved in bags 

for the winter. The method of cooking them, when fresh 

plucked, is by simply boiling the apples ; but, when they 

have lost their acidity, they are cooked by being placed in 

a hole dug in the ground, over which green leaves are 

placed, and a fire kindled above alL The natives are as 

careful of their crab-apples as we are of our orchards ; and 

it is a sure sign of their losing heart before intruding 

whites when, in the neighbourhood of settlements, they 

sullenly cut down their crab-apple trees, in order to gather 

the fruit for the last time without trouble, as the tree lies 

upon the ground. I The Indian, 

As fades his swarthy race, with anguish sees 

The white man's cottage rise beneath the trees. — Leyden. 

Water is the only drink of the natives. They dislike 
salt ; at least I have observed they will not boil potatoes in 
salt-water, even under the pressure of hunger. At meals a 
circle is formed ; the natives sit like Turks, and eat slowly 
and without much conversation, until the pipe has been 
passed round, after which they begin to talk. Travellers 
are generally well received, but members of another tribe 
are not expected to take their guns or pikes inside the 
house with them — an act which, according to M. Hue, is 
contrary also to Tartar etiquette. A stranger, on entering 



• 



SOCIAL ETIQUETTE. 57 

a house, seats himself, and no word is spoken for several 
minutes. Food is then placed before him without his 
having to ask for it, and the host is displeased if the 
stranger does not partake of it. He also feels hurt if by 
any omission, the guest has to ask for refreshment. A 
small mat, specially kept for strangers, is spread as a seat, 
and at the end of the meal, a wooden box of water and 
some soft bark strips are offered for washing the mouth 
and hands. Next follows a pipe, if tobacco is plentiful, 
and then the host asks a string of questions at once : 
where the guest is from ? where going to ? on what busi- 
ness ? and the news from his tribe ? In reply to which, 
the guest makes a sort of speech, answering all the ques- 
tions, r Another family now expresses a wish to entertain 
him, and, though occasionally a traveller has to eat six or 
eight times in a night, such invitations cannot be declined 
without offence. In the morning, the guest receives another 
meal, and departs without any charge being made for his 
entertainment. On the arrival of a number of strange 
canoes on a friendly but unexpected visit, they are brought 
stern foremost to the shore, and the natives cease paddling 
and wait without speaking. Had they been expected, the 
canoes would have approached bow foremost, and the 
people on shore would have run down and helped to pull 
their bows on to the beach ; but in the case of unexpected 
visitors, the inmates of the village simply come out of 
.their houses and squat down, looking at the visitors. By- 
and-by, one, and then another, is asked to go up to the 
houses;-, but no person goes without a special invitation, 
and sometimes it is an hour or more before all the visitors 
find accommodation.^ 



58 DOMESTIC MANNERS. 

The Aht Indians have an etiquette by which the 
manner of receiving guests and visitors is laid down, and 
all their ceremonies on public occasions are regulated. 
Extreme formality prevails, and any failure in good 
manners is noticed.' The natives of rank rival one another 
in politeness. Compared with the manners of English 
rustics or mechanics, their manners are simple and rather 
dignified. Since the whites went amongst them, it is 
amusing to observe the attempts that are made to imitate 
some of the forms of civilized intercourse. In meeting 
out of doors, they have no gesture of salutation ; in their 
houses it consists of a polite motioning towards a couch. 



( 59 ) 



CHAPTER IX. 

FEASTS. 

Feasts and Feasting — Description of a great Whale Feast — After-dinner 
Oratory: Skill in Public Speaking — Seta-Kanim "on his Legs" — 
Yocal Peculiarities — Indian's reply to Governor Kennedy—Singing : 
Blind Minstrel from Klah-oh-quaht ; translation of one of his 
Songs — Amusements of Adults and Children — Dances and Plays ; 
Description of five different Dances. 



/ could be pleased with any one 

Who entertained my sight with such gay shows. — Dryden. 



The great feasts, as before named, take place in winter, but 
feasting goes on at all times. There are always feasts and 
distributions when a new house is built. An Indian who 
thinks anything of himself, never gets a deer or a seal, or 
even a quantity of flour, without inviting his friends to a 
feast. The guests go early, and sit chatting while the food is 
being cooked. They eat in silence, and go away afterwards 
one by one, each taking the uneaten portion of his allow- 
ance with him in a corner of his blanket j ; After a whale 
is brought on shore, about a hundredweight of the best 
part is cut off and presented to the chief. The harpooner 
who first struck the whale, and the fish-priest — a sorcerer 



60 FEASTS. 

who prophesies as to the success of the fish seasons — next 
receive their shares ; then the minor chiefs, in portions 
according to their rank ; and, finally, the common people, 
until the whole fish is divided. A round of feasts is now 
expected from those who have received large portions: 
Messengers, with red and blue blankets tastefully put on, 
go to each house, and in a loud voice invite all the men of 
the tribe to attend a feast at a particular house. The 
women are not invited to a feast of this kind, and are' 
seldom seen at any large entertainment, except at that 
called Wawkoahs, which is given by one tribe to another 
with which they are on very friendly terms// The common 
people — how odd to talk of common people where all 
seem so common — go early, and take their seats near the 
door by which they enter. It is the habit of men of rank 
to be late in going to a feast, and to have several mes- 
sages sent to them to request their presence. | Each 
person's place is duly reserved for him. For a feast of 
this kind, a large part of the whole building is cleared ; all 
the dividing planks that separate the families are removed, 
and a clear space left, sometimes fifty feet wide by two 
hundred in length. Clean mats, or long twists of cedar 
fibre are laid round the inside of the lodge. On the 
entrance of a guest, he is announced by name and placed 
in his proper seat, where he finds a bunch of bark strips 
for wiping his feet. When a popular chief enters, he is 
loudly cheered after the Aht fashion, that is, by striking the 
walls with the back of the hand or with a piece of stick, in 
which way the natives also accompany their monotonous 
songs. The meal is never served till all the invited guests 
have arrived. Meanwhile the cooking goes on in a corner 



TREATMENT OF GUESTS. 61 

of the house in a manner new to Soyer. Hot stones are 
put, by means of wooden tongs, into large wooden boxes, 
containing a small quantity of water. When the water 
boils, the blubber of the whale, cut into pieces about an 
inch thick, is thrown into these boxes, and hot stones are 
added till the food is cooked. This imperfect boiling does 
not extract half the oil from the blubber, but whatever 
appears is skimmed off, and preserved in bladders as a 
delicacy to be eaten with dried salmon and with potatoes 
or other roots. Whale-oil is so much liked by the natives 
that they rarely sell it. The chief's wives at such an 
entertainment prepare the food, and afterwards wait upon 
the guests. On everything being ready, the host directs 
the feast to be served. Silence while eating is considered 
a mark of politeness. No knives are used ; the blubber, 
which in tenacity resembles gutta-percha, is held in the 
hands while being eaten. Each guest receives a larger or 
a smaller piece according to his rank. During dinner, the 
host and one of his servants, who may be called a sort of 
master of the feast, walk round to see that all the visitors 
have been served with due attention. On finishing his meal, 
each person receives some soft cedar bark, that he may 
wipe his mouth and hands. The remains of each person's 
meal are carefully gathered by the servants of the host, and 
carried to the guest's dwelling. By-and-by, conversation 
begins ; a few compliments are paid to the chief for his 
good cheer, and then, perhaps, some tribal topics are 
introduced, and animated speeches are delivered by various 
orators. Praises of their own and their forefathers' 
achievements in war, or skill in hunting and fishing, and 
boasts of the number of their powerful friends and the 



(r2 NATIVE ORATORY. 

admirable qualities of each, form the burden of these after- 
dinner speeches. The principal chief always gives the 
signal to break up the party, and he leaves first. When the 
guests retire, it is usual, in fine weather, for small groups 
to meet and discuss the whole proceedings and criticize 
the speeches. I had no expectation of finding that oratory 
— the queen of human gifts — was so much prized among 
this rude people. It is almost the readiest means of 
gaining power and station. The Klah-oh-quahts excel in 
public speaking. Individuals sometimes speak at festive 
or political meetings for more than an hour, with great 
effect upon the hearers. My not being able always to 
follow the words enabled me perhaps more to notice the 
graces of action which the speakers exhibited. The 
blanket is a more becoming garment to an orator than a 
frock coat. The voices of one or two noted chiefs are very 
powerful, yet clear and musical, the lower tones remark- 
ably so ; their articulation is distinct, and their gestures 
and attitudes are singularly expressive. I have been 
tempted sometimes to cheer them. 

There is a noticeable difference, I may mention, between 
the voices of the Ahts and those of Englishmen. I never 
more distinctly observed this than when a savage replied 
to Governor Sir Arthur Kennedy on his addressing an 
assembly of natives in front of the Government House at 
Victoria, soon after his arrival in the colony. The 
Governor is a soldier-like man, with a resolute, handsome 
face, and firm voice ; but the contrast was striking between 
his measured voice and talk, and the deep, careless tones of 
the savage, as his utterance in reply burst on the relieved 
ears of the audience. There is a pith in an Indian's 



ORATORY, SINGING, AND DANCING. 63 

speech altogether, in voice, manner, and meaning, that 
startles one accustomed to the artificial declamation of 
English public meetings. It has occurred to me, while 
hearing savage oratory among the Ahts, that an actor or 
artist who wished to know what natural earnest manner 
in public speaking really is, should visit Klah-oh-qu, and 
hear Seta-Kanim on his legs. Viewing the matter artis- 
tically, it is quite a treat ; but, from another point of view, 
the picture is saddening, even to one ignorant of the 
language, to see a savage in the open air, pleading, under 
a sense of injustice, for some object he has much at heart 
— perhaps his native land. There is nothing to be seen 
in England like it. We Englishmen converse well in- 
doors across green tables, but out of doors the savage beats 
us in public speaking beyond compare. In all the exter- 
nals of oratory, the Bishop of Oxford at Bradford, or 
Lamartine at the Hotel de Ville, would be tame, placed 
beside Seta-Kanim speaking for war. 

Boys practise the recital of portions of celebrated 
speeches which they retain in memory ; and occasionally, 
as the old men sit on the beach, watching the sunset on a 
summer evening, they point out future orators and envoys 
among the youngsters who play before them. Such winter 
feasts as I have described are often followed by singing 
and dancing. Singing is very common, but their musical 
attainments are not great. 

They have, however, different airs or chants for times 
of grief or joy, for careless moments, and for the hour of 
triumph, all of which, rude and informal as they may be, 
have a distinct character about them. The most unmusical 
ear, of course, distinguishes at once the song of the mother 



64 SONGS AND CHANTS. 

fondling her child from the wail of the parent lamenting 
for her offspring ; and not less marked is the difference 
between the terrible death chant and the song of mirth at 
a feast. And, I daresay, one might perceive, on comparison, 
a certain beauty of natural expression in many of the native 
strains, if it were possible to relieve them from the monotony 
which is their fault. The required expression is usually 
given by uttering the sounds in quick or slow time, more 
than by any attempt at musical cadence. It is remarkable 
how aptly the natives catch and imitate songs heard from 
settlers or travellers. They soon learn to sing the " Old 
Hundredth " as well as many a Scottish congregation ; 
" Bobbing Around," and "Dixie's Land," were lately 
familiar tunes ; and I have heard several natives join 
in "God Save the Queen," and sing it fairly well too, 
without the variations which destroy that grave, simple 
song. The musical faculty must be far from unimportant 
that enables the natives thus accurately to catch, after a 
few hearings, the right expression of songs, the meaning 
and tendency of which are quite unknown to them. The 
singer often acts while he sings, representing, for instance, 
the spearing of fish or the paddling of a canoe. In almost 
every tribe there is an old man who sings war-chants, and 
songs of praise at public feasts. One old man from Klah- 
oh-quaht Sound, blind from age, accompanied by his two 
sons who lead him afcout, visits the different tribes of his 
own — the Aht — nation every summer. He is one of the 
richest men in his tribe. On landing at a camp, this 
white-haired minstrel praises the tribe and the chief, and 
makes a song, to which they listen quite pleased, and some 
one, whose benevolence or vanity has been touched, gives 



OUT-DOOR AMUSEMENTS. 65 

him a present. The following is a free translation of one 
of his improvisations : — " The Ohyahts are a great people 
" with strong hearts, and all the tribes fear them ; they 
"make good canoes and kill whales. I am an old man 
" who has seen many snows, but every snow I hear more 
" about the Ohyahts ; they have a great chief who has 
" taken many heads, and has many slaves ; his grand- 
father was strong and took many heads. The Ohyahts 
" are lucky and will catch plenty of salmon ; I have come 
"far and am old, and will need blankets in winter." 
The venerable beggar will sing thus for an hour, praising 
different people and their forefathers, if at every stoppage 
he receives a present ; and should there be any backward- 
ness in giving on the part of the audience, he will ask for 
a gift in a most unbard-like manner. 

The men have few out-door amusements except swim- 
ming, or trying strength by hooking little fingers, which is 
always conducted with good humour.* Hunting and fishing 
may be called more occupations than amusements. The 
war-dance is now and then practised out of doors, but 
is little like the dance one's imagination would picture, 
consisting merely of a number of men with blackened faces 
running to and fro, now and then jumping on one leg, 
yelling and firing their guns. ' The native children are * 
sprightly enough and amuse themselves in various ways ; 
climbing poles, shooting with bows and arrows, and darting 
miniature spears at shapes of birds and fish made of grass ; 

* From some cause, perhaps the constant use of the paddle, their fingers 
are very strong ; as already stated, I have seen middle-sized natives earn- 
heavy weights with their fingers which stalwart woodmen could scarcely 
lift. For this reason an angry Indian should not be allowed to catch the 
clothes of an opponent ; he should be knocked down. 

5 



m PANTOMIMIC DANCES. 

or alone in a small canoe, upsetting by a quick movement 
the tiny vessel, soon to right it, and empty the canoe of 
water before the bold swimmer again gets in to paddle off 
and repeat the trick. Another boy's pastime, which their 
elders instruct them in, is cutting off with a knife the heads 
of clay models made to represent enemies. 

After a great feast, as a signal for dancing to commence, 
the host claps his hands, and, in a loud tone, sings a few 
words of some well-known song. As a rule, the men and 
women do not dance together ; when the men are dancing 
the women sing and beat time. v Hardly an evening passes 
in winter without a dance in some part of the encampment, 
and if no one has a ■ party, the chief invites some of the 
young men to dance at his own house. The seal-dance is 
a common one. The men strip naked, though it may be a 
cold frosty night, and go into the water, from which they 
soon appear, dragging their bodies along the sand like 
seals. They enter the houses, and crawl about round the 
fires, of which there may be fifteen or twenty kept bright 
with oil. After a time the dancers jump up, and dance 
about the house. In another dance, in which all the 
performers are naked, a man appears with his arms tied 
behind his back with long cords, the ends of which, like 
reins, are held by other natives who drive him about. The 
spectators sing and beat time on their wooden dishes and 
bearskin drums. Suddenly the chief appears, armed with 
a knife, which he plunges into the runner's back, who 
springs forward, moving wildly as if in search of shelter. 
Another blow is given ; blood flows down his back, and great 
excitement prevails, amidst which, the civilked spectator 
shudders and remonstrates. The stroke is repeated and 



PANTOMIMIC DANCES. 67 

the victim staggers weakly, and falls prostrate and lifeless. 
Friends gather round, and remove the body, which, 
outside the house, washes itself and puts on its blanket. 

I never saw acting more to the life ; the performers 
would be the making of a minor theatre in London. Here, 
in fact, is theatrical performance in its earliest stage. The 
blood, which by some contrivance flows down the back at 
the moment the stroke is given, is a mixture of a red gum, 
resin, oil and water — the same that is used in colouring 
the inside of canoes. In these dances men only share, but 
there is a dance in which men and women join, and which 
they keep up for a long time. Both sexes are naked to the 
waist, and the best blanket is worn as a kilt. Such a scene 
brings Alloway Kirk to mind, and one peers through the 
smoky, dim-lighted Indian house for a vision of the shaggy 
fiddler in the corner. The hair is allowed to hang loose, 
and the women are ornamented with anklets and bracelets. 
The dancers sing, and the boys standing round keep time 
with sticks on bearskin drums. No notice is taken of the 
women except, occasionally, when a gallant youth throws a 
string of beads round an active maiden's neck. The dancing 
is not with partners, and each seems to quit the dance alone, 
and without ceremony. The dancers move slowly through 
a kind of figure — the nature of which I could not understand 
— and pass strips of blanket under the arm so quickly to one 
another, that one cannot see them till some performer, 
tired out, stops and walks away with a strip in his hand. 

I may mention here a few more of the Aht dances, 
which, accompanied with singing, are called by the natives 
" Nook," as I witnessed them at Alberni, during a large 
intertribal feast. 



68 "NOOK" DANCES. 

Nook 1. — The great aim in this dance was, that it was 
to be carried on with energy and without cessation ; when 
some one was tired out others joined in ; and those who 
had stopped returned to it again, when they had recovered 
their strength. The words of the song were equivalent to 
" keep it up." Many of the dancers kept it up till the 
perspiration appeared freely on their half-naked bodies : 
some went out and plunged into the river, and returned 
to renew their exertions. 

Nook 2. — There was a peculiar song here, as in all the 
other dances ; but I do not know the words. Probably in 
this, as certainly in some other instances, there were no 
words, and tradition had only retained the notes of the 
tune, and the peculiar feature of the dance. The aim of 
the performers was to bend the knee excessively, while 
at the same time they kept time with the quick drum- 
beating and singing to which they danced. Only a few of 
the Indians excel in this dance. 

Nook 3. — This might be called the doctor's (Ooshtukyu) 
nook. During the song and dance, which at first seemed 
to present nothing peculiar, a well-known slave (one, how- 
ever, who was in a comparatively independent position, 
being employed as a sailor on board the steamer Thames,) 
suddenly ceased dancing, and fell down on the ground appa- 
rently in a dying state, and having his face covered with 
blood. He did not move or speak, his head fell on one 
side, his limbs were drawn up, and he certainly presented a 
ghastly spectacle. While the dance raged furiously around 
the fallen man, the doctor, with some others, seized and 
dragged him to the other side of the fire round which they 
were dancing, placing his naked feet very near the flames. 



" NOOK " DANCES. 69 

After this, a pail of water was brought in, and the doctor, 
who supported the dying man on his arm, washed the blood 
from his face ; the people beat drums, danced, and sang, 
and suddenly the patient sprang to his feet and joined in 
the dance, none the worse for the apparently hopeless con- 
dition of the moment before. While all this was going on, 
I asked the giver of the feast whether it was real blood upon 
the man's face, and if he were really wounded. He told me 
so seriously that it was, that I was at first inclined to believe 
him, until he began to explain that the blood which came 
from the nose and mouth was owing to the incantations of 
the medicine-man, and that all the people would be very 
angry if he did not afterwards restore him. I then recalled 
to mind that in the early part of the day, before the feast, 
I had seen the doctor and the slave holding very friendly 
conferences ; and the former had used his influence to get 
a pass for the latter to be present at the entertainment, 
to which, probably, he had no right to come. I feel sure 
that many of the Indians really believed in this exhibition 
of the doctor's power. When the affair was over, many 
of the natives asked me what I thought of it, and referred 
to it as if it must set at rest for ever any possible doubts 
with regard to the abilities of their native doctors. The 
Indian, who explained this and other performances to me, 
said, that the cure was not entirely owing to the doctor, but 
to the large body of dancers and singers who all " exerted 
their hearts " to desire the recovery of the sick man, and 
so procured the desired effect. 

Nook 4. — This is the roof dance, a performance peculiar 
to the Seshaht people. Suddenly, during an apparently 
ordinary course of singing and dancing, the majority of 



70 "NOOK" DANCES. 

those engaged climb up the posts of the house, thrust the 
boards aside, and the next moment are heard leaping on 
the roof and making a noise like thunder. This goes on 
for a time, some descending from above and joining those 
below, and others climbing up to take their places on 
the roof. It may be mentioned, in connection with this 
roof-dance, that after all the dances were over, on the 
occasion I speak of, an old man came forward and made, 
apparently, a very eloquent speech. He said that the 
roof-dance was one belonging to the Seshahts, and could 
not be omitted ; but, at the same time, noticed that it 
was an injurious thing for the roof, as it was apt to split 
the boards and let in the rain. This was intended as an 
apology to the owner of the house. Afterwards, several 
Indians came forward, and each gave a small stick, which 
was received as a present by the owner of the house, 
These sticks intimated a gift of roof-boards, and the person 
presenting one of them undertook, at some future time^ 
to redeem it with a roof-board. 

Nook 5.— This dance was characterized by having a 
greater number of dancers, and a movement and song 
which, though cheerful, was not so quick nor loud as those 
which had preceded it. It seemed to be intended to have a 
sort of confidential and conversational tone. The dancers 
moved softly but actively about, and seemed to address 
each other in praises of the building ; they looked cheerful, 
and turned the head quickly, as if speaking first to one 
and then to another, and sang, " It is a very great house > 
a very great house ; a very great house." Upon a move- 
ment of the leader, who with voice and arm never failed to 
direct all the performances of the company, they changed 



"NOOK" DANCES. 71 

their words (while they kept the same tune, certainly the 
most pleasant one of the entertainment,) to "It is a very 
warm fire; a very warm fire; a very warm fire;" and 
finally ended by praising the household furniture : " These 
are very nice things ; very nice things ; very nice things." 
On the whole, this dance-song was much the most pleasing 
of those which we witnessed. There was something dra- 
matic in the way in which these rudely-painted and half- 
naked creatures attempted to represent, in dance and song, 
the idea of an animated conversation. 



( 72 ) 



CHAPTEE XI. 

AN ATTEMPT AT AN INQUEST. 

Depredations of the Indians — An Indian shot with Peas — English Staff 
Surgeon — Soft-hearted Yorkshireman — Absurd Verdicts of the Jury. 



{After they'd almost por'd out their eyes) 

Did very learnedly decide 

The business on the horse's side. — Hudibras. 



I was roused from my bed one dark rainy night at 
Alberni, by a messenger from our farm up the Klistachnit 
Biver, bringing word that the man in charge of the farm 
had shot an Indian. The farm was about two miles 
distant, and being on the opposite side of the river, could 
only be reached by water. Not knowing very well what it 
might be necessary to do, I asked Mr. Johnston, a gentle- 
man in our service, to take a few men and go to the farm 
and see what had happened. This party had some diffi- 
culty, owing to the darkness, in getting their boat past 
the drift-trees at the entrance of the rapid stream, but in 
an hour or two they reached the farm. Two men were 
employed there — an American and a Yorkshireman — who 
both were sitting in the kitchen, looking at the fire, when 



A SHOT IN THE DARK. 73 

Mr. Johnston entered the house. It appeared that the 
foreman, the American, had for several nights past been 
watching a field of potatoes which the Indians were plun- 
dering. They came in numbers up a long creek, and half 
filled their canoes in a few hours, and before morning w T ere 
many miles distant. The foreman, two nights previously, 
had caught one of these Indians, a fellow who seemed a 
ringleader, but he had escaped by slipping off his blanket 
and running naked into the forest. The same Indian had 
again returned with his plundering gang. On the evening 
in question the foreman went out to watch the field, and 
took with him his gun, loaded with five hard peas, thinking 
that, if he could not catch an Indian, he would frighten 
them by shooting the peas amongst them. As usual, the 
depredators were in the field filling their bags, and as soon 
as they became aware of the foreman's presence, they 
ran with them to their canoes. He could not overtake 
them, but having fired his gun with as good an aim as he 
could take in the dark at the supposed ringleader, he was 
horror-struck to see the Indian fall flat upon the ground. 
Rushing back to the house with his discharged gun, the fore- 
man cried to his companion, the Yorkshireman, on entering, 
" Jack, I've shot an Indian." These particulars being learnt, 
Mr. Johnston and two others took a lantern and visited 
the field, where, after looking about for some time, they 
found the Indian lying dead. He had fallen over his 
potato-bag, and his hands were clutching the soil. The 
body was dragged to the river ; but the men forming 
Mr. Johnston's party objected to take it on board the boat, 
and proposed tying a string round the ankle, and towing 
the body astern. Finally, however, a small abandoned 



74 AN ATTEMPT AT AN INQUEST. 

canoe was found, and the body was placed in this and 
towed behind the boat to the settlement, where it was put 
into a room full of old casks until the morning. 

After breakfast next day I proceeded to examine into 
this affair. The peculiarity of the case was that everybody 
in the district was in my own employment. I took the 
word of the American that he would appear when wanted, 
knowing this to be a better security for his appearance, 
than locking him up in a room from which he might have 
escaped. The feeling among the settlers as to the death 
of this Indian was that nothing was required to be done. 
Several men came to me and said, " You are not going to 
trouble Henry about this — are you, sir?" I could only 
answer that we must do what the law required us to do. 
It was easy to summon a jury, but where could we get a 
doctor to make a post-mortem examination of the Indian's 
body ? The difficulty was solved by a workman advancing 
from a gang employed in carrying wood, and asking to 
speak with me. He was a careworn, middle-aged man, 
dressed in common clothes. We went into the room that 
served as an office or court-room, and on entering into 
conversation, this man told me that he had been a staff 
surgeon in the British army, and that he had his diploma 
and certificates of service in his chest. He brought me 
these, and they proved the truth of his statement — so, of 
course, I gladly accepted his services. The next step was 
to get a jury. I selected twelve of the most respectable 
and intelligent workmen, and opened the court : this jury 
consisted of Canadians, Americans, and Englishmen. We 
inspected the body, and did everything in proper form. The 
doctor proved that death was caused by wounds in the chest, 



AN EXAMINATION. 75 

and he produced a pea, which he had found in the left lung. 
The Yorkshireman, who lived in the farm-house with the 
American, a fine young fellow above six feet in height, 
was next examine*!. He stood in the middle of the room 
with his cap in his hand ; the jurymen standing half-a- 
dozen on each side of the room. I asked the Yorkshire- 
man to tell the jury what happened that night. He said 
his "chum" had gone out of the farm-house, and had 
come back in about an hour. He took his gun out, and 
had brought it back. The witness had heard a gun-shot. 
He knew no more. I asked this witness what his com- 
panion said when he returned to the house ? At this 
question he blushed, and then grew pale, and twirled his 
cap round, and said nothing. I repeated the question, 
and told the Yorkshireman to take time, and not to shrink 
from telling the truth. He seemed embarrassed, and did 
not reply. Noticing he was ill at ease, I left him alone for 
a little, and then again asked him the question in a mild 
tone. His agitation increased, the cap fell from his hands, 
he staggered, and finally fainted where he stood. Some 
of the jurymen caught him in their arms, and carried 
him outside. I have never seen a strong man faint from 
mental agitation before or since this occasion ; it is pro- 
bably a very unusual occurrence. The witness must have 
had a large heart, and he believed that his evidence as to 
the words of his companion, " Jack, I've shot an Indian," 
might be fatal words. The examination continued, and, 
after several other witnesses had given testimony, I stated 
the case to the jury, and sent them into another room for 
their finding. There was, it appeared, a long debate : 
for nearly half an hour passed before they returned to 



76 VERDICT OF THE JURY. 

my room. One after another entered, and when they 
had ranged themselves again on the side of the room, I 
inquired what their finding was. The answer was, " We 
find the Siwash was worried by a dog. " A what?" I 
exclaimed. " Worried by a dog, sir," said another jury- 
man, fearing that the foreman had not spoken clearly. 

Assuming, with great difficulty, an expression of proper 
magisterial gravity, I pointed out to the jury the incom- 
patibility of this finding with the evidence, and went again 
over the points of the case, calling particular attention to 
the medical testimony, and the production by the doctor of 
the pea found in the body of the Indian ; after which I, a 
second time, dismissed the jury to their room, and begged 
them to come back with something, at all events, reason- 
ably connected with the facts of the case. A longer time 
than before elapsed. The jury, on this occasion, left their 
room, and walked about the settlement, and I saw knots 
of men conversing eagerly. There was some hope now, I 
thought, of a creditable verdict. When the jurymen at 
length sidled into my room for the second time, I drew a 
paper towards me to record a finding which I expected 
would suitably end this unpleasant inquest. " Now, men, 
what do you say ?" Their decisive answer was, " We say 
he was killed by falling over a cliff.' ' I shuffled my papers 
together, and told them they might go to their work ; I 
would return a verdict for the jury myself. The farm, I 
may mention, for a mile every way from where the dead 
body was found, was as level as a table. I could not but 
think it strange the jury did not decide upon an open or 
evasive finding, instead of those extraordinarily absurd 
ones. The fact was the men were determined to shut 



AN ARREST AND AN ESCAPE. 77 

their eyes, and they shut them so close that they became 
quite blind. Not a bit of a joke was in their minds ; 
they acted with perfect seriousness throughout, and this 
made the comic parts of this tragi-comedy still more 
ludicrous. 

I arrested the American, and sent him in our own steam- 
boat to Victoria in charge of a constable, but he escaped 
from custody. He was an excellent fellow, and I am 
sure had no intention of killing the Indian. The victim 
belonged to a distant tribe, but they were too much 
ashamed of the circumstances of his death to send for the 
body. We accordingly buried it in the forest. The 
Indians who lived beside the settlement were rather 
pleased than otherwise with the death of this Indian, and 
many of them pointed to the body and said, " Now you see 
who steals your potatoes ; our tribe does not." 

I beg the reader to observe that the foregoing statement 
is not in the slightest degree exaggerated or distorted ; it 
is a mere simple statement of the facts of the case as they 
actually occurred. 



CHAPTER XI. 

ACQUISITION AND USE OF PROPERTY. 

Acquisition of Property — Sharpness in Bargaining — Restrictions upon 
Trade— Land considered as Tribal Property — Description of various 
kinds of Personal Property; Muskets, Bows and Arrows, Canoes, 
Hand-adze, Bone Gimlet, Elkhorn Chisel, Stone Hammer, Household 
Utensils, Mats, Clothing — Method of Making and Managing Canoes — 
Prevalence of Slavery and Slave-Dealing— Condition and Treatment 
of Slaves. 



Takes what she liberal gives, nor thinks of more. — Thomson. 



Commodities are obtained among the Ahts from one 
another by bartering slaves, canoes, and articles of food, 
clothing, or ornament ; and from the colonists by ex- 
changing oil, fish, skins, and furs. All the natives are 
acute, and rather too sharp at bargaining./ ) The Ahts are 
fond of a long conversation in selling, but seldom reduce 
their price ; living at no expense, they can afford to keep 
their stock of goods a long time on hand. I have known 
an Indian keep a sea-otter's skin more than three years, 
though offered repeatedly a fair price for it. News about 
prices, and indeed about anything in which the natives 
take an interest, travels quickly to distant places from one 
tribe to another. If a trading schooner appeared at one 
point on the shore, and offered higher prices than are 



LA WS OF PROPERTY. 79 

usually given, the Indians would know the fact imme- 
diately along the whole coast. { f An active trade existed 
formerly among the tribes of this nation, as also between 
them and the tribes at the south of the island and on the 
American shore. The root called gammass, for instance, 
and swamp rushes for making mats, neither of which could 
be plentifully produced on the west coast, were sent from 
the south of the island in exchange for cedar-bark baskets, 
dried halibut, and herrings. The coasting intertribal trade 
is not free, but is arbitrarily controlled by the stronger ' 
tribes, who will not allow weaker tribes to go past them in 
search of customers i) just as if the people of Hull should 
intercept all the vessels laden with cargo from the north of 
England for London, and make the people of London pay 
for them an increased price, fixed by the interceptors. 

There is no very strict notion of individual property in 
land among the Ahts. The land belongs to the whole 
tribe. In dealing with other tribes the hereditary chief 
represents the proprietory body. I have, however, known 
several instances in which claims to portions of land were 
put forward by individuals. On one occasion a minor 
chief, who with his family and friends had for some years 
occupied a small island near the main encampment of the 
tribe, claimed to be regarded individually as the possessor 
of the island. I knew, also, an instance of a man of rank 
in one tribe who controlled ingress to a lake, and would ' 
allow no one to pass without his permission ; but this may 
not have been so much for his own benefit as that some- 
one should have authority, in the interest of the whole ' 
tribe, to prevent the salmon from being disturbed in their 
ascent up the river. The occupier of a detached house' 



80 ACQUISITION AND USE OF PROPERTY. 

— of which there are very few — built by his family on the 
same spot for several generations, will probably be found 
to have so far an idea of his right to the land, that he will 
prevent other persons from cutting down any valuable tree 
near his dwelling, or from occupying ground immediately 
adjoining. Trees, when they are cut down, belong to the 
feller. A noted hunter, in a small tribe where there are 
few to question his right, will sometimes regard the 
country along one side of a stream as his own hunting- 
ground ; or the land will be claimed by the head of a 
powerful family who will allow none but his own friends 
to hunt over it. But these are exceptions to the general 
rule, among all the Aht tribes, that the whole extent of 
the tribal land is the common property of all the free men 
in the tribe. This rule is the more easily preserved as the 
land really is of little use to individuals, except for the 
berries which the women collect, or unless it is a good 
hunting-ground for the beaver, mink, marten, or deer.] 
Agriculture is not here practised, and probably separate 
ownership of the soil nowhere exists generally until 
cultivation begins. While, however, private property in 
land is not fully recognized among these people, each 
tribe maintains the exclusive right of its members to the 
tribal territory — including all lands periodically or occasion- 
ally occupied or used, sites for summer and winter encamp- 
ments, fishing and hunting grounds and spots for burial — 
and would strongly resist encroachment upon these places/ 
They believe (see chapter on religion) that their villages 
existed and were occupied by birds and beasts even before the 
Indians themselves took the human form. What Captain 
Cook said of this people, that " nowhere in his several 



TRIBAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY. 81 

voyages did he meet with any uncivilized nation or tribe 
who had such strict notions of their having a right to the 
exclusive property of everything that their countryproduces," 
is quite true of these tribes, as tribes. In the numerous 
bays and rivers, the limits of the fishing-grounds, and the 
ownership of the islands, are strictly defined. But on the 
sea-shore, at any distance from a village, the exact boundaries 
of the land owned by the different tribes frequently remain 
open until settled in the discussions following some dispute 
about a stranded whale or some other waif. None of the 
natives have any clear views as to the mode in which the 
tribes acquired the land which they now claim as their own, 
beyond the general impression which some of them have, 
that it was bestowed by Quawteaht. . The property owned 
by individuals consists chiefly of slaves, blankets, canoes, 
muskets, pikes, lances, tools, mats, wooden dishes, fishing 
spears and nets, inflated seal-skins, trinkets, skins, oil, and 
furs. Every free man keeps what his own labour earns ; 
and it was an old custom of the tribes that younger men 
in a family, until they had wives and children, should give 
their earnings to the eldest brother. I speak of the 
customs of the tribes before these were influenced and 
weakened by closer intercourse with the colonists. / / 

Perhaps about three-fourths of the grown men on this 
coast possess muskets, common smooth-bore flint-lock 
weapons, which are sold in Victoria at about forty shillings 
each. They prefer flintlock guns, being apt to lose or wet 
percussion-caps, or to run out of the supply. The muskets 
are kept in flannel cases, and great care is taken of them. 
The stocks are generally ornamented with brass-headed 
tacks. Neat powder-horns and seal-skin shot-pouches are 

6 



82 ARMS AND CANOES. 

made by the young hunters. The natives seldom shoot 
at game flying or running. As in other parts of the world, 
the bow was the weapon formerly used before the musket 
was known, or could be goW' The native bow, like the 
canoe and paddle, is beautifully formed. It is generally 
made of yew or crab-apple wood, and is three and a half 
feet long, with about two inches at each end turned sharply 
backwards from the string. The string is a piece of dried 
seal-gut, deer-sinew, or twisted bark. The arrows are about 
thirty inches long, and are made of pine or cedar, tipped 
with six inches of serrated bone, or with two unbarbed 
bone or iron prongs. I have never seen an Aht -arrow 
with a barbed head. Two such arrows weigh as much as 
the bow. • The bow is held horizontally, and the string 
is pulled to the right side. It is said that a good native 
bowman can kill a small animal at fifty yards, but I have 
not seen any good archery among these tribes. Since 
muskets were introduced, the bowmen probably have been 
out of practice. I can understand that the native bow 
\ was formerly a formidable weapon. 

Canoes are made on this coast principally of cedar, and 
are well shaped, and managed with great skill by men, 
women, and children. They are moved by a single sail 
or by paddles, or in ascending shallow rapid streams, by 
long poles. I have seen an Indian boy with a single pole 
make good way with a small laden canoe against a stream 
that ran at the rate of six miles an hour. Canoes are of 
all sizes, but of a uniform general shape, from the war- 
canoe of forty feet long to the small dug-out in which 
children of four years old amuse themselves. Outriggers 
are not used, but the natives sometimes tie bladders or 



MANAGEMENT OF CANOES. 83 

seal-skin buoys to the sides of a canoe to prevent it from 
upsetting in heavy weather. The sail — of which it is 
supposed, but rather vaguely, that they got the idea from 
Meares some eighty years ago — * is a square mat tied at 
the top to a small stick or yard crossing a mast placed 
close to the bow. It is only useful in running before the 
wind in smooth water. The management of a canoe 
by natives in a heavy sea is dexterous ; they seem to 
accommodate themselves readily to every motion of their 
conveyance, and if an ang^y breaker threatens to roll over 
the canoe, they weaken its effect quickly by a horizontal cut 
with their paddles through the upper part of the breaker 
when it is within a foot of the gunwale {see page 48). Their 
mode of landing on a beach through a surf shows skill and 
coolness. Approaching warily, the steersman of the canoe 
decides when to dash for the shore; sometimes quickly 
countermanding the movement, by strenuous exertion the 
canoe is paddled back. Twenty minutes may thus pass 
while another chance is awaited. At length the time 
comes ; the men give a strong stroke and rise to their feet 
as the canoe darts over the first roller ; now there is no 
returning : the second roller is just passed when the bow- 
paddler leaps out and pulls the canoe through the broken 
water ; but it is a question of moments : yet few accidents 
happen./ /The paddles used by the Ahts are from four to 
five feet long, and are made of crab-apple or yew. Two 
kinds are used ; the blade of one is shaped like a leaf, and 
the other tapers to a sharp point. The sharp-pointed 

* Would it be fanciful to connect their first notion of a canoe sail with 
their observation of the membranous fan of the pine-seed, which they often 
see floating through the air, in the forest, after falling from the cones ? 

6—2 



84 MODE OF PADDLING. 

paddle is suitable for steering, as it is easily turned under 
water. It was formerly used as a weapon in canoe-fighting 
for putting out the eye — a disfigurement which many of 
the old Aht natives show J] In taking a seat in a canoe, 
the paddler drops on his knees at the bottom, then turns 
his toes in, and sits down as it were on his heels. The 
paddle is grasped both in the middle and at the handle. 
To give a stroke and propel the canoe forward, the hand 
grasping the middle of the paddle draws the blade of the 
paddle backwards through the water, and the hand grasp- 
ing the handle pushes the handle-end forward, and thus 
aids the other hand in making each stroke of the paddle : 
a sort of double-action movement. As a relief, the paddler 
occasionally shifts to the handle the hand grasping the 
middle of the paddle, and vice versa. Such a position looks 
awkward, but two natives can easily paddle a middle-sized 
canoe forty miles on a summer day. The Strait of Juan 
de Fuca is about fifteen miles wide, and trading canoes 
often cross during the summer season to the American 
shore.* The Indians paddle best with a little wind ahead ; 
when it is quite calm, they often stop to talk or look at 
objects in the water. It is useless to hurry them : they do 
quite as they please, and will sulk if you are too hard upon 
them. In a small canoe, when manned by two paddlers, 

* I read with surprise the doubtful opinions of ethnological writers as 
to whether savages could cross in canoes from the Asiatic to the American 
shore. The Aht natives, and particularly the bolder Northern Indians, 
could do so in such canoes as they now have without any difficulty. It is 
not easy to determine what motive could induce savages to undertake such 
a voyage, or to migrate at all over the sea. The hope of reaching a better 
country would not be likely to enter the mind of a savage. He would not 
move unless forced to move. (See Paper by G. M. Sproat in the Trans- 
actions of the Ethnological Society, 1866.) 



MAKERS OF CANOES. 85 

one sits in the stern and the other in the bow. The 
middle is the seat of honour for persons of distinction. 
An Indian sitting in the stern can propel and steer a canoe 
with a single paddle. In crowded war-canoes the natives 
sit two abreast. No regular time is kept in the stroke of 
the paddles unless on grand occasions, w T hen the canoes 
are formed in order, and all the paddles enter the w T ater at 
once and are worked with regularity. The most skilful 
canoe-makers among the tribes are the Nitinahts and 
the Klah-oh-quahts. They make canoes for sale to other 
tribes. Many of these canoes are of the most accurate 
workmanship and perfect design— so much so that I have 
heard persons fond of such speculations say that the 
Indians must have acquired the art of making these 
beautiful vessels in some earlier civilized existence. But 
it is easy to see now, among the canoes owned by any 
tribe, nearly all the degrees of progress in skilful work- 
manship, from the rough tree to the well-formed canoe. 
Vancouver Island and the immediately opposite coast of 
the mainland of British Columbia have always supplied 
the numerous tribes to the northward with canoes. The 
native artificers in these localities have in the cedar 
{Tliuja gigantea) a wood which does not flourish so exten- 
sively to the north, and which is very suitable for their 
purpose, as it is of large growth, durable, and easily worked. 
Savages progress so slowly in the arts, that the absence of 
such a wood as cedar, and the necessity of fashioning 
canoes with imperfect implements from a hard wood like 
oak, as the ancient people of Scotland did, might make 
a difference of many centuries in reaching a stated degree 
of skill in their construction. 



86 MODE OF MAKING CANOES. 

The time for making canoes in the rough is during the 
cold weather in winter, and they are finished when the 
days lengthen and become warmer. Few natives are with- 
out canoes of some sort, which have been made by them- 
selves, or been worked for, or obtained by barter. The 
condition of the canoe, like an Englishman's equipage, 
generally shows the circumstances of the possessor. Select- 
ing a good tree not far from the water, the Indian cuts it 
down laboriously with an axe, makes it of the required 
length, then splitting the trunk with wedges into two 
pieces, he chooses the best piece for his intended canoe. 
If it is winter, the bark is stripped and the block of wood is 
dragged to the encampment ; but in summer it is hollowed 
out, though not finished, in the forest, English or American 
tools can now be easily procured by the natives, ft The axe 
used formerly in felling the largest tree, — which they did 
without the use of fire — was made of elkhorn, and was 
shaped like a chisel. The natives held it as we use a 
chisel, and struck the handle with a stone, not unlike a 
dumb-bell, and weighing about two pounds. This chisel- 
shaped axe, as well as large wooden wedges, w T as also used 
in hollowing the canoe. The other instruments used in 
canoe-making were the gimlet and hand-adze, both of 
which indeed are still generally used. The hand-adze is 
a large mussel-shell strapped firmly to a wooden handle. 
The natural shape of the shell quite fits it for use as a 
tool. In working with the hand-adze, the back of the 
workman's hand is turned downward, and the blow struck 
lightly towards the holder, whose thumb is pressed into 
a space cut to receive it. The surface of the canoe, marked 
by the regular chipping of the hand-adze, is prettier than 



MODE OF MAKING CANOES. 87 

if it were smooth. The gimlet, made of bird's bone, and 
having a wooden handle, is not used like ours > the shaft 
is placed between the workman's open hands brought 
close together, and moved briskly backwards and forwards 
as on hearing good news ; in which manner, by the revolu- 
tion of the gimlet, a hole is quickly bored./ Thus, also, did 
the natives formerly produce fire, by rubbing two dry cedar 
sticks in the same way. A few slits, opening on one side, 
were made in a dry flat stick, and on the end of the rubbing 
stick being inserted into one of these, and twirled round 
quickly between the palms, a round hole was made, at the 
bottom of which ignition took place among the wood dust. 
When the wood was in bad order for lighting, two or three 
natives were sometimes employed successively in the work, 
before fire was obtained. 'The making of a canoe takes 
less time than has been supposed. With the assistance of 
another native in felling and splitting the tree, a good work- 
man can roughly finish a canoe of fifteen or twenty feet 
long in about three weeks. Fire is not much used here in 
the hollowing of canoes, but the outside is always scorched 
to prevent sun-rents and damage from insects. After the 
sides are of the required thinness, the rough trunk is filled 
with fresh water, which is heated by hot stones being thrown 
into it, and the canoe, thus softened ' by the heat, is, by 
means of cross-pieces of wood, made into a shape which, on 
cooling, it retains. The fashioning is done entirely by the 
eye, and is surprisingly exact. In nine cases out of ten, a 
line drawn from the middle of the extremities will leave, 
as nearly as possible, the same width all along on each 
side of the line. To keep the canoe in shape, light cross- 
pieces fastened to the inside of the gunwales are placed 



88 HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS. 

about four feet apart, and there remain. The gunwale is 
turned outwards a little to throw off the water. The bow 
and stern pieces are made separately, and are always of one 
form, though the body of the canoe varies a little in shape 
according to the capabilities of the tree and the fancy or 
skill of the maker. Bed is the favourite colour for the 
inside of a canoe, and is made by a mixture of resin, oil, 
and urine ; the outside is as black as oil and burnt wood 
will make it ; the bow and stern generally bear some device 
in red. The natural colour of the wood is, however, often 
allowed to remain. The baling-dish of the canoes is always 
of one shape — the shape of the gabler-roof of a cottage — 
and is well suited to its purpose. 

Of all the household articles, the prettiest is the common 
basket, which is of different sizes, and is used by the women 
in carrying salmon or berries — being supported on their 
backs by a thong passing across their foreheads. > The dishes 
used are wooden, either hollowed from a block, or having the 
sides fastened together with wooden pegs ; cedar and alder 
are commonly used in making them. Some of these dishes 
are Yery neatly formed. Water is brought from the stream 
in square wooden boxes, by the younger women and children. 
Similarly shaped are their wooden pots, which, of course, 
are not placed on the fire ; the practice is, to throw hot 
stones into them till the water boils. ; For keeping fish- 
hooks, gun-flints, and other small necessaries, a cedar-bark 
case is used, which fits into another similar case, like the 
common cigar-cases sold in England. Three kinds of mats 
are used, one made of rushes for bedding, one of white-pine 
bark for bed-clothing and such purposes, and one of cedar- 
bark for use in canoes. To get the black colour considered 



HATS AND CAPS. 89 

ornamental in a portion of the mat, the strips of bark are 
steeped in a mixture of charcoal, oil, and water. The 
inside of the curious hats worn by the natives in canoe 
voyages is made of white-pine bark and the outside is made 
of cedar-bark, the hat being shaped so as to shade the head 
and throw the rain off the shoulders. The upper part 
of the body is, on these occasions, protected by a cape made 
of white-pine bark, which is soft, but not close in texture, 
and which looks pretty when clean, and edged with marten 
fur. A strong fine thread is made of this bark, of which 
the Aht natives, who all are expert with the needle, make 
constant use. Their needle is a slender twig sharpened at 
one end. It is unnecessary to give any further account of 
their property in personal chattels, which, as may be 
supposed, are all of the simplest description. I may 
mention that the stock of salmon collected for consump- 
tion in winter is not quite regarded as common property, 
but is an article which a native, in case of need, w x ill give 
freely to another. If a quantity, the product of one man's 
fishing, is stored in his particular division of a house, he 
will not object to another industrious Indian using it for food, 
should he be destitute. The Indians give food ungrudgingly 
to one another ; they have generally plenty and can be free 
with it. In connection with the descriptions of property 
owned by the Ahts, I must not omit to refer to the slaves. 
/ No institution is more specifically defined among the 
Ahts than that of slavery. It has probably existed in 
these tribes for a long time, as many of the slaves have a 
characteristic mean appearance, and the word " slave " is 
used commonly as a term of reproach. If a man acts 
meanly or is niggardly in his distributions of property (see 



90 INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY. 

chapter on Tribal Banks), it is said that he has a " slave's 
heart." Next to a " heart of water/' which means a coward, 
the " heart of a slave" is the most opprobrious epithet. 
It is the fashion for slaves to wear short hair. Formerly 
almost every well-born native owned a slave, and some of 
the chiefs had five or six. A slave was considered a useful 
and honourable possession, and if sold or lost, was replaced 
immediately by another. Women and children, as well as 
men, were enslaved. Slave- women are at the present day 
bought and sold on this coast like sheep. A slave never 
sat at meat with his owner; he waited upon the family 
and their guests, and took his own meals afterwards. His 
duty was to split salmon, pluck berries, carry wood and 
water, and to do all that he was told to do, without 
remonstrance or remuneration. There were means, though 
what they were I do not know, by which a person recently 
enslaved might regain his freedom ; but this was a rare 
occurrence, and I could not discover any instance of a 
person becoming free who had been born in slavery and 
was basely descended. Stories, however, are told of great 
chiefs in former times, such as Tsosiatin of the Kowitchans, 
who occasionally freed a number of slaves in order to show 
their magnanimity. I believe that a well-born native, 
captured in war and reduced to slavery, could be bought 
back by his friends for a large price ; and if he remained a 
captive until death, and left an orphan born of his own 
wife, the child, in some cases, on growing up, would, on 
account of his better descent and unfortunate condition, so 
far become free that he could not be sold out of the tribe^V 
On this subject, however, I found it difficult to get accurate 
information. Like other native institutions, slavery has 



INSTITUTION OF SLA VER Y. 91 

been shaken by the approach of civilization, and sometimes 
what the traveller now might mistake for old customs are, 
ill reality, but the mere portions or remnants of them. 

The natives take great pride in honourable birth, as 
distinguished from the base mixed extraction from slaves.* 
One instance, however, is known to me of a chief having pro- 
moted a slave to be one of his inferior wives. t The slave 
is at the absolute disposal of his master in all things ; he is 
a bond-servant who may be transferred without his own con- 
sent from one proprietor to another. A master sometimes 
directs a slave, on pain of death, to kill an enemy, and the 
slave dares not again appear in the presence of his master 
without the head of the person. The behest of the Sheikh 
Al Jebel is not more faithfully obeyed. The case, in this 
instance, is one in which — native evidence being excluded by 
the working of the British criminal law as administered in 
Vancouver Island — the slave would be put to death, while 
the chief, who cares nothing for a slave's life, would 
probably go free, and boast of his successful crime. So 
complete is the power over slaves, and the indifference to 
human life among the Ahts, that an owner might bring 
half a dozen slaves out of his house and kill them publicly 
in a row without any notice being taken of the atrocity. 
But the slave, as a rule, is not harshly treated ; he is 
clothed and has plenty to eat, and is seldom beaten except 
for desertion, when a severe flogging is administered. A 
runaway slave, if belonging to a chief, is occasionally 

* The Vancouver Indians dislike and have a contempt for Chinamen 
and negroes. They regard them as inferior people to themselves. 

f The fathers of the offspring of female slaves are not known, as the 
slaveholders hire out the women to infamy. 



92 SLA VE- TRADING. 

returned, through courtesy, by the chief of another friendly 
tribe ; but more frequently he is seized and immediately 
conveyed along the coast for sale, the captors being un- 
willing to risk the hostility of his owner by detaining him. 
As it is the practice of powerful tribes to prevent the canoes 
of smaller tribes from passing their villages in search of 
customers, the price of a slave increases at each stage, as 
he is conveyed along the coast to the best market J\| Men 
formerly were preferred to women, but since the island has 
been colonized women have brought higher prices, owing 
to the encouragement given to prostitution among a young 
unmarried colonial population. A young woman worth, 
say, thirty blankets on the west coast towards the north 
end of the island, will, at Victoria, be worth fifty or sixty 
blankets, or about thirty pounds. I know of several 
instances of slave - dealing between the west coast and 
Victoria within the last two years. ]\The coast of British 
Columbia, and the islands towards the north are, however, 
the chief sources of this odious and shameful traffic with 
Victoria. On the west coast of Vancouver Island there is 
not much slave-trade with Victoria; it is directed chiefly from 
that quarter to the American side of the Strait of Juan de 
Fuca, where the Cape Flattery Indians are great promoters 
and supporters of this hateful commerce. Being com- 
paratively rich and numerous, they induce the larger 
Vancouverian tribes to attack the small neighbouring- 
tribes on their own shores, and capture persons fit for the 
slave-market. Some of the smaller tribes at the north of 
the Island are practically regarded as slave-breeding tribes, 
and are attacked periodically by stronger tribes, who make 
prisoners, and sell them as slaves. V 



( 93 } 



CHAPTER XII. 

CONDITION OF WOMEN. 

Condition of the Aht Women — Unmarried and Married — their Betrothal- 
Marriage — Divorce— Widowhood — Polygamy — Polyandry. 



Allegiance and fast fealty 
Which I do owe unto all womankind. — Spencer. 



/The condition of the Aht women is not one of unseemly 
inferiority ; the men have their due share of the labours 
necessary for subsistence. The women do all the work of 
the camps, prepare fur-skins, collect roots and berries, 
take charge of the fish on the canoes reaching the shore, 
manage the cooking, and prepare food for winter. They 
also make mats, straw -hats and capes, wreaths and orna- 
mental niceties of grass or cedar-fibre. I have met 
women in the woods in autumn, at four o'clock in the 
morning, staggering under a great burden of cedar-bark. 
They are seldom invited to feasts, and do not share 
in public ceremonies, except as assistants.; On reaching 
puberty, young women, on a given occasion, are placed in 
the sort of gallery already described as in every house, 



94 CONDITION OF WOMEN. ' 

and are there surrounded completely with mats, so that 
neither the sun nor any fire can be seen. In this cage 
they remain for several days. Water is given to them, 
but no food. The longer a girl remains in this retirement 
the greater honour is it to the parents; but she is dis- 
graced for life if it is known that she has seen fire or the 
sun during this initiatory ordeal. Feasts are given at 
this time as part of the ceremony, by her parents or by 
other near friends.* The average age at which native 
women marry is about sixteen. They suffer little during 
pregnancy or at childbirth, but seldom bear children after 
the age of about twenty-five. As a rule they have few 
children, and, I think, more boys than girls. Their 
female relations act as midwives. There is no separate 
place for lying-in. The child, on being born, is rolled up 
in a mat among feathers. Instances are known of women 
having been at work twelve hours after their confinement. 
They suckle one child till another comes. I have seen a 
boy of four following his mother for her milk. The women 
are good and kind mothers, and the crime of infanticide 
after birth is unknown ; but, in order to spite their hus- 
bands after a quarrel, they frequently take means to 
procure abortion. I could find no evidence among the 
Ahts for the past prevalence or present existence of the 
custom of the couvacle, by which, among some savages, 
when a child is born, the father, not the mother, goes to 
bed and is treated as a patient. Before meeting with 
white men, it is supposed that the Aht women were 

* This reminds one of the Mexican superstition at the rekindling of the 
sacred fire, according to which women were confined to their houses with 
covered faces, lest, if they saw the fire, they should be changed into beasts. 



PRIVILEGES OF WOMEN. 95 

generally faithful to their husbands, who, according to 
the accounts of former travellers, valued them so much as 
sometimes to show jealousy on their account — a feeling 
not found often in savage bosoms, but which implies a 
certain degree of affection. The Ahts, indeed, within 
recent times, were distinguished by the respect which 
they showed towards their women, and especially towards 
their wives. A girl who was known to have lost her 
virtue, lost with it one of her chances of a favourable 
marriage ; and a chief, or man of high rank in an Aht 
tribe, would have put his daughter to death for such a 
lapse. He would not, for any consideration, have pro- 
stituted his wife, but his female slaves were readily devoted 
to such infamy. The reverse, as far as the wife is con- 
cerned, is the case farther north among the tribes on the 
coast of British Columbia : the temporary present of a wife 
is one of the greatest honours that can be shown there 
to a guest. Generally speaking, wives are not harshly 
treated among the Ahts. They have the important privi- 
lege, with the consent of their own friends, of at any time 
leaving their husbands, who thus have to treat them well 
if they wish them to remain. An active female slave, 
however, is more valued than any wife who does not bring 
riches or powerful connections, for the slave cannot leave 
the master's service. Wives maybe divorced at the will of 
their husbands, and a discarded wife is not viewed with dis- 
favour. A singular mode of punishing an unfaithful wife 
came under my notice. The frail fair one was taken to the 
beach, and her husband, kneeling upon her, surrounded by 
wailing friends, fired a succession of blank musket charges 
close to her head. The woman was much frightened, 



96 PRIVILEGES OF WOMEN. 

and afterwards sat by herself weeping for several days. 
On separating from his wife, a husband has to give up the 
fishing or hunting grounds acquired with her at marriage. 
The property reverts to the woman's sole use, and is a 
dowry for her next matrimonial experiment. In the case 
of a marriage between persons of different tribes, and their 
separation while the children are young, the children go 
always with the mother to her own tribe. Separations and 
new connections are ordinary occurrences. The baskets 
and mats made by a wife for sale belong to herself, and 
she has also a certain small share of all the property 
acquired by her husband. He cannot interfere with her 
portion, which is a sort of pin-money used by the wife in 
the purchase of personal requirements. Additionally, as 
the traders well know, a wife has an important say in the 
disposal of articles. She and her husband talk together, 
and argue as to what shall be asked for oil or furs. The 
one may want blankets, and the other cotton. Privileges 
such as these prevent the women from being treated 
otherwise than with consideration. Early betrothals are 
common, and in the betrothal of chiefs' children the 
parents on both sides deposit a number of blankets to 
ensure good faith. Betrothals are so much respected that 
the wounded pride of a disappointed suitor or his tribe 
wall not be satisfied by the mere return of the pledge. It 
is pretty well known at the betrothal what the price at 
marriage will be ; but a chief can raise the price up to 
ten blankets above the original agreed number, if his 
daughter is pronounced by a majority of her own tribe 
to have greatly improved. Strange to say, this hap- 
pens less frequently than might be expected. Prices for 



COURTSHIP AND BETROTHAL. 97 

marriage, when the price has not been fixed at the time of 
betrothal, are sometimes offered formally, year after year, 
by the betrothed man ; and the reception of the third offer 
is considered to show truly whether the betrothal is likely 
to be respected. It is an understood custom that if the 
third offer is rejected, the original betrothal is cancelled, 
and the pledge forfeited by the woman's friends. This 
leads always to bitterness of feeling, and is only done when 
some more distinguished native chief, or rich white man, 
seeks the woman in marriage. There is, however, a way 
of cancelling a betrothal by mutual agreement ; and as a 
symbol of such termination, if the parties are well-born, 
each tribe sends a canoe laden with blankets, and manned 
with a full crew, who paddle to a distance from land, and, 
singing all the while a song, throw the blankets one by 
one upon the waves. For several days before a young 
girl's marriage the old women are busily engaged with her 
in a variety of ceremonies. The young men, under the 
like circumstances, to show their pluck, scratch their faces 
till blood comes.* 

Wives, as has been before stated, are obtained by 
purchase, and the price is regulated by the rank and 
wealth of both parties. There is no particular mode of 
courtship ; the matter has generally to be arranged with 
the parents. No English father, in his library, raising his 
spectacles to survey a diffident youth who longs to be his 
son-in-law, is sterner in the matter of " settlements " than 
a family man among the Ahts. I was offered a young, 

* A fond practice in courtship among the common people (not among 
the chiefs) is for the woman to search the man's head, and give him to eat 
the fattest and least nimble of the population which she is able to secure. 

7 



OS POLYGAMY. 

pretty, well-born woman for one hundred blankets ; but a 
wife can be bought sometimes for an old axe or half-a- 
dozen mink-skins. Though a wife is always purchased, it 
is a point of honour that the purchase-money given for a 
woman of rank — not for a common woman — shall, some- 
time or other, be returned by her friends or her tribe in a 
present of equal value. A. man occasionally steals a wife 
from the women of his own tribe ; but it is much like 
eloping in England, for both parties understand each other : 
and, after all, it is a purchase, as the friends of the woman 
must be pacified with presents. Though, the different 
tribes of the Aht nation are frequently at war with one 
another, women are not captured from other tribes for 
marriage, but only to be kept as slaves. The idea of 
slavery connected with capture is so common, that a free- 
born Aht would hesitate to marry a woman taken in war, 
whatever her rank had been in her own tribe. 

Polygamy is permitted in all classes, but, owing to its 
inconveniences, is not generally practised. There is no 
rule by which any wife obtains precedence over the 
others ; the oldest wife, if she has children, seems to 
have mpst authority in the house. It is not uncommon, 
on the death of a poor native, for a friend to take the 
widow for one of his own wives, and to adopt the children. 
These children are kept much in the position of slaves, 
and, in the course of time, the younger ones are regarded as 
slaves, but they cannot be sold out of their tribe. Unless 
widows have property of their own, their position is hard. 
The eldest son takes all that property of his father not 
given away to the deceased's friends, during his last 
illness, nor buried with him. 



POL YANDR Y—INTERMARRIA GE. 99 

I could find no traces of the existence of polyandry 
among the Ahts. The people have a strong idea of blood- 
relationship ; so strong that it may be described as the 
principal constituent in the structure of their simple 
society. The groups of relatives round the different heads 
of families are very noticeable in a tribe, and any injury 
to a member of such a group is resented by the family 
and all the family's friends. The feeling of relationship 
is not confined merely to their offspring, nor is it of 
temporary duration, as in the case of animals, but it 
extends to all kinsmen — to the son and grandson, and, 
also, collaterally to marriage connections. Whether kin- 
ship is now, or ever was, considered by the Ahts to be 
stronger when derived through males than females, I do 
not know ; the fact of its great influence at present among 
these primitive tribes on this coast is undoubted. 

Intermarriage with other tribes is sought by the higher 
classes to strengthen the foreign connections of their own 
tribe, and, I think also, with some idea of preventing 
degeneracy of race. Before the house of the head chief 
of the Khah-oh-quahts there is a large stone which a man 
must lift and carry, in the presence of the people, before 
he may woo the chief's daughter. The poorer orders are 
unable to do otherwise than marry among their own people. 
By the old custom of the Aht tribes, no marriage was per- 
mitted within the degree of second-cousin. The marriage 
of a patrician is an important affair. He loses caste unless 
he marries a woman of corresponding rank, in his own 
or another tribe. Affection or attachment has little to do 
with the marriage ; the idea is to preserve the family from 
a mixture of common blood. The marriage of a head chief 

7—2 



100 WIVES OF CHIEFS. 

must be with the descendant in the first line of another 
chief of similar rank, and no head chief is permitted to 
take a first wife for himself, or to agree to a marriage for 
his children by such first wife, without the consent of his 
tribe. Few of the head chiefs have more than one wife. 
Should a head chief wish for more wives than one, it is 
not necessary that he take other than his first wife from 
women of his own rank ; but the children of his extra wives 
have not the father's rank. The purchase of wives is 
made in public, and great ceremony is observed when a 
chiefs wife is purchased. Grave tribal discussions as to 
the purchase-money, the suitableness of rank, and all the 
benefits likely to follow, accompany any such proposal of 
marriage. Most of the tribes have heralds or criers, who 
announce important events, and their office, like the har- 
pooner's, is obtained by inheritance.* On this official 
giving public notice that distinguished visitors are at 
hand, every person in a native encampment comes out, 
and squats down, covered with a blanket to the chin. 
Further proceedings are awaited in silence. If it is a 
marriage visit, thirty or forty canoes sometimes escort 
the suitor to the shore. No word is spoken on either 
side for ten minutes. At last, on the question being- 
asked, where the visitors are from, and what is wanted — 
a form that is gone through, though the object of the visit 
is perfectly well known — a speaker rises in one of the 
canoes, and addresses the natives on shore in a loud voice. 
Talk of a voice, it would fill St. Paul's ! He gives the 

* The Bishop of Columbia and Commander Helhy of the Grappler will 
remember the Seshaht herald who interpreted their speeches to the tribes 
assembled at Alberni in 1860. 



MARRIAGE CEREMONIES. 101 

name, titles, and history of the expectant husband, and 
states the number and influence of his friends and connec- 
tions in his own and among other tribes ; the object being 
to show that the honour of marrying so great a person 
should suffice without much purchase-money. At the end 
of the speech a canoe is paddled to the beach, and a bundle 
of blankets is thrown on land. Contemptuous laughter 
follows from the friends of the woman, and the suitor is 
told to go away, as he places too small a value upon the 
intended bride, i Then some orator on shore in turn gets 
up, and praises the woman ; and thus, with speeches and 
additional gifts, many hours are occupied, until finally 
the woman is brought down to the shore, stripped to her 
shift, and delivered to her lover. His first w T edding present 
is the necessary covering of a blanket. After the marriage, 
a feast is spread which lasts for several days. Instead of 
throwing the proffered blankets on shore in a bundle, the 
natives sometimes land from their canoes, and, standing a 
few paces apart, hold up the red, white, blue, and green 
blankets in a long pretty line before the eyes of the 
woman's tribe. But this is not the ordinary practice of 
the Ahts : in the few cases in which it has been done 
among them, the custom of some other tribes has been 
imitated. When the man's rank is much higher than 
the woman's, the latter is sometimes brought to the man's 
tribe to be married ; and Ealeigh's courtesy is then out- 
done, for blankets are laid, not only over the puddles, 
but all the way, for her to walk upon, from the canoe 
to the house. There are several minor ceremonies in 
marriage, which, however, are hardly worth mentioning, 
as they vary greatly, and no one can explain their meaning. 



102 MARRIAGE CEREMONIES. 

A wooden head-piece, fringed with human hair, and having 
a long snout, is worn by the bridegroom on his head. At 
great marriages, such as I have just alluded to, this ugly 
covering is simply thrown upon the beach ; but on common 
occasions, when merely the friends of the " young people " 
and not the whole tribe are present, the bridegroom, deco- 
rated with feathers and accompanied by a friend, walks 
into the woman's house, and throws the head-piece upon 
the floor, returning afterwards to his canoe. When the 
feasting, the speeches, and marriage mummeries are over, 
I have been told that the women's friends light two torches 
in her late house, and after a time extinguish them in 
water that is spilt for this purpose on the ground. 



( 103 ) 



CHAPTER XIII. 
ESCAPE FROM THE TOQUAHTS. 

Respect for Rank — Yisit to the Toquahts — Dangerous Encampment- 
Indians circumvented. 



In vain thy Kate awaits thy comin', 

Kate soon will be a woefu 9 woman. — Burns. 



The high consideration in which rank or actual authority 
is held by these savages is extraordinary. After deciding 
whether a stranger is a friend or enemy, the first question, 
in the mind of a native, is as to his rank, — whether he 
is a chief or a common man. If several travellers are 
together, the natives are not satisfied till they know who 
is the leader, and who is next in command. At Alberni, 
where more than two hundred men were engaged in 
various employments, the Indians in the neighbourhood 
knew particularly the position of every person in the 
settlement. In their own villages, the common men 
point out the chiefs to a visitor, and show T the differences 
of rank by holding up one forefinger for the highest chief, 
and placing the other forefinger against it, at points 
gradually lower and lower, for the inferior chiefs. I once 



104 VISIT TO THE TOQUAHTS. 

visited, with a companion, — leaving three of my party 
in a boat at the entrance of the Toquaht river — the 
ancient and somewhat rascally tribe of Toquahts, now 
reduced by war to comparatively a small number,* whose 
village is in a dreary, remote part of Nitinaht (or Barclay) 
Sound. As our canoe rounded a corner of the shallow 
river, and came suddenly upon their village, a loud yell 
was raised by a group of natives, who sat on a bank making 
cedar-traps for salmon ; and the shout was repeated by the 
inmates of the houses, who rushed out of doors. There 
is a strange wildness in the half-human, half-beast cry 
which these savages raise on being thus surprised, and it 
made the blood go back to our hearts ; however, as we 
much wanted a fish for our supper, we hauled up the 
canoe, and walked towards the group. There was no fish 
to be got ; so we lighted our cigars and entered into con- 
versation. The natives ceased work, and formed a half 
circle round a middle-aged, important-looking savage, who 
was pointed out to us as the chief, and who sat looking 
unconcernedly before him, while all the others surveyed us 
with curious eyes. "We did not speak much, and I daresay 
ten minutes passed before any of the natives opened their 
mouths. The evening was approaching ; it was a wild 
remote place : the dense, motionless pines were everywhere 
around, and no sound broke the stillness but the murmur- 
ing of the shallow stream, as it flowed past the village. 
I began to have a feeling of apprehension as to these 
crouching Toquahts, wrapped all round in bearskins to 

* In the list of the tribes, given in the Appendix, the real Toquahts 
appear as few ; but many fugitives from other tribes join them. 



A JOKE. 105 

the chin, above which their savage, furtive eyes looked 
out upon us.* At last, a grey-haired man commenced 
a song in praise of the chief, to whom he pointed often 
while singing, and who, with his hands crossed before 
him, carried himself, all the while, as a man of rank. 
Our visit seemed to have been turned into an occasion of 
glorifying this chief of twelve men — the remnant of a large 
tribe distinguished formerly in war and for savage arts. 
The time for speeches, and explanations, and presents 
was arriving ; but being hungry, and having to trust to 
our guns or hooks for providing our supper, and having 
to select our camping ground for the night, we lost patience 
and retired to our canoe. The Toquahts, no doubt, thought 
us unmannerly visitors, and, in fact, aroused us next 
morning, on discovering our encampment, in a way which 
made us glad to get out of their neighbourhood. 

I will relate how this occurred. After leaving the 
village, on our w r ay down the river, we met several fierce- 
looking savages in canoes, one of whom, as he passed, 
grinned at us and presented a large horse-pistol. This 
was meant probably as a joke on his part, and, as a joke 
in return, I showed him the muzzles of our two six-barrel 
revolvers. He grinned still more, and asked where we 
were going. " Very far," I answered, and we pushed 
away from him, and by-and-by joined the remainder of 

* The Indians rarely kill a well-known white man, as they know that he 
would be inquired for ; but they think no more of cutting off a common 
man's head than of killing a salmon. You may, perhaps, travel safely alone, 
from one tribe to another, all round the island ; but it is a matter of chance : 
your head may be cut off at any time. The Indians are the creatures of 
impulse ; you never know what they will do ; they are like grown children 
subject to ferocious demoniacal possession. 



106 ENCAMPING FOR THE NIGHT. 

our party, whom we had left in the boat. We were now 
five in number ; we had the prospect only of biscuit and 
coffee for our supper, as no fish had been got. It was 
with great difficulty we found a camping place along the 
shore. Not trusting the Toquahts, we wanted to go a 
long way from them. There were few streams of water 
in this part of Nitinaht (or Barclay) Sound ; one place was 
too stony, another too wet ; so it was almost dark before 
we found a place for our tent. One very suitable place 
was reached as we coasted along, where there was a nice 
stream and the remains of an Indian camp, but the smell 
of the decayed fish was so offensive w r e could not stay 
there. Taking with us a slender hewn pole from the 
standing framework of the temporarily abandoned huts, 
we proceeded farther, and at last encamped — just beyond 
a point — on a narrow stony beach, fifteen yards wide from 
the forest to the wacer, and perhaps two hundred yards 
long. Having pitched the tent with the pole above 
mentioned, we boiled some coffee, drew up the boat, and 
lay down to sleep. In using the pole for this purpose, we 
cut off about a foot of its length. The night was dark, 
and we let the fire burn, without fearing that the smoke 
would be seen. I remember we all looked uneasy ; though, 
as often happens on such occasions, we laughed and talked 
a good deal about the very objects of our suspicions, namely 
the Indians we had just left. At length we fell asleep, I 
waking occasionally during the night when startled by the 
scream of the owl (known to ornithologists as the " great 
owl ") from some neighbouring high tree. 

Having awoke about five o'clock, I lay still, and 
occasionally lifted up a corner of the tent to observe the 



SURROUNDED BY INDIANS. 107 

morning. On doing so once, I thought I saw the form of 
an Indian through the mist moving about between the 
wood and the water. I do not know whether it was an 
Indian or not, but the appearance rather startled me, for 
there were no Indians but Toquahts in the neighbour- 
hood, and, as already stated, we rather wished to avoid 
them. Waking my companions, we thought it prudent 
quietly to pack everything within the tent, without appear- 
ing outside ; then first one and next another went out of 
the tent, and, with apparent unconcern, made the usual 
arrangements for breaking up the camp. Breakfast we 
thought we would take later in the day ; our present 
object was to remove quickly from the spot. Our supposi- 
tion that Indians were near was soon confirmed, for, in a 
short time, about a dozen Toquaht Indians appeared coming 
towards us along the beach, sauntering with their usual 
undecided step, and their blankets tightly folded round 
them. A large canoe with a crew of twenty Indians was 
also seen through the mist coming round the point, near 
which, as above stated, we had placed our camp. The canoe 
stopped near the shore, and we saw that the crew wore 
their war-paint. The Indians on shore had no war-paint ; 
they saluted us, and came near and began talking. One 
commenced a song, and accompanied it by imitating the 
action of paddling. We continued our preparations for 
embarking, when all at once, for the first time, we remem- 
bered that our heavy boat was fast aground. I shall not 
forget my sensations at that moment ; I was certain that 
the savages meant mischief, and we seemed to be fairly 
trapped. Badly as all this looked, I was glad it was day- 
light. The shore party of the Indians had now mixed 



108 PRETEXT FOR QUARREL. 

with us, and laughed and chatted ; we working quietly, but 
on our guard. I asked why the Indians in the canoe wore 
war-paint, while those on shore did not, and was answered 
that the canoe was going to surprise a party of You-clul-ahts 
who had a fishing station somewhere near. As we moved, 
about packing our things and collecting sticks for a make- 
believe fire, one of our party, a quick-witted woodman 
from the State of Maine, whispered, " Manoeuvre to make 
them launch the boat for us." I was about replying, when 
a wild angry shout from one of the Indians on shore arrested 
the conversation ; it was followed by a louder howl from the 
canoe. The song of the paddler ceased ; angry exclamations 
and shouts filled the air, and the savages literally danced 
with passion. It appeared that, in search of a cause of 
quarrel, one of them had stumbled on the tent-pole we 
had cut, which they said belonged to the Toquaht tribe. 
" Toquaht house," " Toquaht stick," " steal stick," " steal 
stick," "you come here to steal stick," were among the 
cries the maddened Indians uttered. We were now familiar 
with the danger, and had reckoned our chances ; we were 
getting into that dogged state of feeling very noticeable in 
the English race during a time of danger ; and which 
would be expressed by saying, " Come now, if you mean 
business, set to work; we have had enough of this." 
The excitement of the Indians drew them all together, so 
that we had them before us, and they seemed at a loss 
how to proceed. The canoe came near the shore, and 
landed half its crew, who joined the shore party. Still 
we stood ready, but without drawing our pistols. "When 
a party of the Indians tried to slip along the shore 
with the evident intention of getting behind us, we 



INDIANS CIRCUMVENTED. 109 

moved back one by one, till their movement was neutra- 
lized. Their excitement continued, but they hesitated to 
attack. At length I shouted to them, "Where is your 
chief, I want to talk to him : we did not know the. stick 
was yours ; we will pay for it." A score of voices 
answered " The chief is up the river." " Well, go and 
bring him," said I. " No," they replied, " you go to the 
chief." A thought having struck me, I said, we would go 
to the chief ; our hearts were good to the Toquahts : they 
must get into their canoe, however, and show us the way, 
as the channel of the river when reached was intricate. 
The Indians talked this over among themselves for a short 
time, and seemed pleased with the proposition. Finally, 
they got into their canoe, and remained close to the shore, 
leaving half a dozen common men to help us to launch our 
boat, which still was aground. Stowing everything in it, 
we placed the oars handy, shipped the rudder; and went 
to work to shove the boat off, not with a " Yo-heave-oh ! " 
but with the Indian " Tchoo, Tchoo, Tchoo." It was odd 
to see how the frantic excitement of the Indians had now 
subsided, and how willingly they seemed to comply with our 
wishes. They, no doubt, thought they had us nicely in 
a trap of our own contriving, forgetting quite that once up 
the Toquaht river was enough for any one. No sooner, 
with a great " Tchoo, Tchoo," did the keel of our boat 
cease to grate on the bottom, than each man sprang on 
board to his place, shipped his oar, and pulled vigorously 
in an opposite direction from the Toquaht river and from 
the expectant Indian canoe. The Indians in the canoe 
said nothing, but rose to their feet and sat down again ; 
those who had helped to launch cur boat stood in the water 



110 ESCAPE FROM THE TOQUAHTS. 

stupefied. I watched them for a long time through a field 
glass, and they were still about the same place. A stern 
chase after a boat with five men in it, each armed with a 
six-barrelled rifled revolver, was not to their mind. These 
Indians had expected to find our encampment during the 
night, but coming unexpectedly upon our party in the 
morning, and finding us moving, they were disconcerted. 
This trip was the last trip I made to the Toquaht river ; 
their tribe was the most mischievous I saw on the west 
coast of Vancouver Island. 



( 111 ) 



CHAPTER XIV. 

TRIBAL RANKS. 

Use made of an Accumulation of Personal Chattels — Custom of Distributing 
Property — Object of such Distribution — Degrees of Tribal Banks — 
Position of Hereditary Chiefs ; of Minor Chiefs ; War Chiefs, and 
Military Officers — Rank bestowed on TV omen. 



Let it not then seem strange to you, 

That here one strange thing more you see.— Mace, 



The principal use made by the Ahts of an accumulation 
of personal chattels is to distribute them periodically 
among invited guests, each of whom is expected to return 
the compliment by equivalent presents on like occasions. 
The following particulars refer to the distribution of 
property by individuals to others of their own tribe : 
Blankets are usually given to men ; beads, trinkets, 
and paint for the face, to women. Not more than two 
blankets are usually given to any person at one time. 
Sometimes a new musket is divided, and the stock, lock, 
and barrel given to three different persons. The destruc- 
tion of certain kinds of property serves the same pur- 
pose as its distribution. Canoes, for instance, are rarely 



112 DISTRIBUTION OF PROPERTY. 

given away. The practice is to make a hole in them, and 
allow them to sink. The distributor shows by this act 
his total indifference to his property ; he gives it away, he 
destroys it ; his heart is very strong. Yet the same man, 
who has rid himself of almost his whole property, will 
haggle the next minute about the price of a trinket. Slaves 
are rarely given away at a distribution. This singular 
custom of distribution, which prevails among the coast 
tribes here, is thought by some to have been necessary, 
owing to the thievish habits of the people which prevented 
any individual from retaining what he had collected ; but, 
whatever may have been its origin, the continuance of the 
custom probably is secured by the gratification which the 
practice affords to two strong propensities in human 
nature — pride of rank, and love of display. A lavish 
distribution of property among the Ahts shows what the 
natives call the " strong heart " of the distributor.* 
The practice is not so highly appreciated now as it was a 
generation since ; still, the gaining of property with a view 
to its distribution is a ruling motive for the actions of 
the Ahts, and without bearing this in mind no one can 
understand their character, nor appreciate the difficulties in 
the way of reclaiming them. The collection of property for 
the purpose of distribution is the constant aim of many of 
the natives who, to the common observer, seem listless and 
idle. The Indian who stands by }^our side in a tattered 
blanket, may have twenty new blankets and yards of calico 
in his box at home. Whatever he acquires beyond imme- 
diate necessaries goes to increase this stock, until his high 

* This term expresses what is frequently meant by our word 
" manliness. " 



POSITION OF THE HEAD CHIEF. 113 

day comes in the winter season, when he spreads his feast 
and distributes gifts among the guests, according to their 
rank. To include all present at such a feast, a single 
blanket is sometimes torn into twenty pieces ; and it is 
said, but this I can hardly believe, that the exact quantity 
or value given to each guest is accurately remembered. | It 
is customary to throw the article briskly into the face of 
the receiver, to show that it goes from a willing heart. 
The giver does not now consider that he has parted with 
his property : he regards it as well invested, for the present 
recipients of his largess will strive to return to him at 
their own feasts more than he has bestowed. The person 
who gives away the most property receives the greatest 
praise, and in time acquires, almost as a matter of course, 
but by the voice of the tribe, the highest rank obtainable by 
such means. This rank is not of the highest class. It 
is only for life, and is different from the ancient here- 
ditary tribal rank. \ With each step in rank there is 
usually a change of name ; and thus, bearing different 
names, the industrious or acquisitive native may rise 
from one honour to another, till finally he reaches a 
high position. 

The head chief in an Aht tribe occupies apparently a 
position of which the type is patriarchal. His authority is 
rather nominal than positive. He generally calls the old 
men together to consider weighty matters, but neither he 
nor they can do anything without the consent of the 
people. At these public councils, where the tribal inte- 
rests are debated with much shrewdness, the principal 
persons are seated according to their rank, and much 

8 



114 TRIBAL OFFICERS. 

respect is shown throughout to the ancient ceremonies. 
There is no formal way of taking a vote ; the will of the 
tribe is expressed by acclamation. The chief has no 
officers, except his slaves, who could enforce obedience in 
his own tribe ; but there are proper tribal officers through 
whom he communicates all resolutions of his own people 
to other tribes. He cannot give in marriage, nor betroth 
his children, contrary to the tribal custom or will. He 
never joins an embassy, nor leads an expedition in war. 
Though frequently receiving presents from his tribesmen, 
the chief is not often wealthy, as he has to entertain 
visitors and make large distributions to his own people. 
| /There is at this day one instance, which possibly is the 
remnant of an old general custom among the Ahts, of all 
the members of a tribe paying tribute to their chiefs. The 
instance to which I allude is that of the Klah-oh-quahts, 
some of whom pay annually to their chief certain contribu- 
tions, consisting of blankets, skins, oil, and other articles, h 
On public occasions, or in intertribal communications, the 
hereditary chief is an important person, whose official 
dignity is maintained by strict etiquette. But his actual 
influence in the tribe is frequently exceeded by that of 
some vigorous underchief. It is not uncommon for the 
principal chief, under his people's displeasure, to abandon 
his property, and abdicate his position in favour of the 
next heir. On retiring into private life he is little noticed. 
When a chief is childless, his next of kin, male, com- 
monly succeeds to the chief ship, but occasionally a more 
distant kinsman is preferred by the tribe, if his property 
is large and his character approved of. As with the 



DEGREES OF RANK. 115 

Irish septs in old times, and with most Eastern people, 
much reverence is shown by the Ahts to the true reigning 
family, though individuals belonging to it are occasionally 
set aside in the line of succession. Minor tribal rank, 
of what may be called the first degree, is hereditary, 
but children only can inherit it, and in default of children, 
the dignity ceases. Unless accompanied with wealth, 
inherited rank in a tribe is a poor possession. The native 
grandee without blankets is like an English peer without 
land. The value of his distributions of property among 
the people is expected to befit his rank, and he gets no 
commendation for what would bring praise and honour to 
a plebeian. Whatever may have been the origin or 
purpose of these dignities, it is evident that the par- 
ticular rank and position of every person in an Aht 
tribe are well understood. Some are called high chiefs, 
others half chiefs or small chiefs ; and any insult, 
wrong, or injury offered to a chief by another tribe, is 
resented by his own tribe according to the rank of the 
sufferer. But his " blue blood " avails not in a dispute with 
one of his own people ; he must fight his battle like a 
common man. 

In marriage, however, or at burials, feasts and public 
ceremonies, and in a council of the tribe, the privileges of 
a man of rank are strictly regarded. The sons of high 
chiefs often have a following of eight or ten free-born 
youngsters, who, unremunerated, follow them about, and 
receive their commands. In the actual conduct of war, 
civil rank fails to secure for the possessor an important 
position. The war chiefs and the under officers in war 



116 DEGREES OF RANK. 

are, as a general rule, chosen for their special fitness 
for military command, and not at all on account of their 
rank. Success in war, is a broad stepping-stone in an 
ambitious career. So far as I can learn, there are among 
the Ahts the following degrees or classes of rank. It must 
be understood that I speak of what is already almost of the 
past. So great has been the disturbing force of contact 
with the colonists, that rank has lost much of its value, 
and as regards some of their ancient customs, they are now 
but little regarded by the natives. First, then, as to 
ranks ; there is the head chief's rank, which is hereditary 
in the male line, and to which, owing to the respect gene- 
rally entertained for the true lineage (if not in all cases for 
the immediate heir), it is almost useless for any low-born 
native directly to aspire. Next are the various degrees of 
rank which probably have been held by inheritance from 
generation to generation. Degrees of rank are sometimes 
acquired, by the consent of the tribe, for great services or 
special acts of valour, but these are not altogether of so 
high a character as the former. The way the natives 
have of fixing the intended degree of rank is by saying 
that it is the will of the tribe, that so-and-so shall be 
equal to so-and-so, or next under him. The harpooner, 
in the tribes that live on the seaboard, possesses high 
hereditary rank. Inferior to these are the various degrees 
of rank, obtained by the consent of the tribe, consequent 
upon large distributions of property. This practice of 
distribution, it may be observed, is not confined to any 
particular class ; all ranks find it useful in supporting their 
influence. All the ranks above mentioned appear to be 



CONFERRED RANK. 11? 

hereditary. There are two additional descriptions of rank, 
both ending with the possessor's life ; one, which, in our own 
country, we should call a courtesy title or rank, is enjoyed, 
as a matter of course, by well-born youths ; the other it is 
the privilege of the hereditary chief and the principal chiefs 
to confer. This last-named rank is generally conferred 
during the festive period following the return of a tribe to 
winter quarters. I did not know that the chiefs had this 
power, or that rank could be possessed except with the 
expressed consent of the people, till I learnt that the right 
was exercised by the chief or chiefs independently, at this 
season, in a tribe near which I lived. This rank can be 
bestowed on men or women, adults or children ; and its 
bestowal is preceded, if not actually obtained, generally by 
presents to the chiefs. Those seeking such rank signify 
their wish to the chief, who, on ascertaining the number of 
aspirants, directs them, at stated times, to assemble at his 
house, where they dance, sing, and go through various 
exercises, day after day — sometimes for w r eeks — before they 
receive the honour. The women, on these occasions, dress 
in their best ; they are ornamented with beads and brass 
rings, and pretty shells are attached to their noses and 
plaited among their hair. This is the only description of 
rank which the women can acquire, by any tribal usage, but 
they partially inherit their parent's rank, to the extent, at 
least, of a regard being paid to it at their marriage. In an 
Aht tribe of two hundred men, perhaps fifty possess various 
degrees of acquired or inherited rank ; there may be about 
as many slaves ; the remainder are independent members, 
less rich as a body than the men of rank, but who live 



118 LOWER-CLASS INDIANS. 

much in the same way, the difference of position being 
noticeable only on public occasions.* It is among the idle, 
poor, and low-born youth of the last-named class that the 
worst Indians are found ; as a rule well-born natives, and 
especially the heads of families in a tribe are quiet and 
well-behaved. 

* Was Darwin long enough among the Fuegians to be enabled authori- 
tatively to affirm that perfect equality exists among the individuals com- 
posing the Fuegian tribes ? 






( 119 ) 



CHAPTER XV. 

INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY AND LANGUAGE. 

Intellectual Capacities — Mode of Numeration — Division of Time — 
Language ; its Imperfect Structure ; Formation of New Words — 
Remarks on some Peculiarities of the Language — Nitinaht Variations 
— Cook's List of Words — Little Change in the Language since Cook's 
Time — The Aht Language probably Allied to the Real Chinook — 
Tribal Names. 



He in the lowest depth of Being framed 
The imperishable mind. — SotjthEy. 

Speak what terrible language you will, though you understand it not 
Yourselves, no matter ! Chough's language, gabble enough, and good enough. 

Shakespeare. 



Until the effect of a judicious education of the Aht natives 
has been fairly tested through several generations, it will 
be difficult for any one to express a confident opinion as to 
their capability for improvement. Mr. Duncan, the mis- 
sionary, has succeeded beyond his expectation in his 
educational efforts among the Tshimpseans on the coast 
of British Columbia ; and there is no such great difference, 
apparently, between the Tshimpseans and the Ahts as to 
lead us to suppose that the one nation would be incapable 
of what is evidently within the capacity of the other. I 



120 INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY. 

could not be easily persuaded that any barrier exists to 
prevent savage races from attaining a fair degree of mental 
cultivation, whatever might be their capacity for advancing 
ultimately in civilization beyond a certain point. The 
cleverness shown in modes of hunting, fishing, and war- 
fare, and in the adaptation of their manufactures to 
intended uses, might be exhibited, no doubt, by savages in 
other studies and pursuits. I had abundant proof, in 
conversing with the Ahts about matters in which they took 
an interest, that their mental capabilities are by no means 
small. It is true that the native mind, to an educated 
man, seems generally to be asleep ; and if you suddenly 
ask a novel question, you have to repeat it while the mind 
of the savage is awaking, and to speak with emphasis 
until he has quite got your meaning. This may partly 
arise from the questioner's imperfect knowledge of the 
language ; still, I think, not entirely, as the savage may 
be observed occasionally to become forgetful, when volun- 
tarily communicating information. On his attention being 
fully aroused, he often shows much quickness in reply and 
ingenuity in argument. But a short conversation wearies 
him, particularly if questions are asked that require efforts 
of thought or memory on his part. The mind of the 
savage then appears to rock to and fro out of mere weak- 
ness, and he tells lies and talks nonsense. I do not doubt, 
however, that in course of time the mental pow r ers of the 
Indian could be greatly improved by education. The chief 
difficulty is that the people would vanish from before the 
white man during the polishing process, as so many tribes 
of savages have done in other parts of the w T orld. 

I will mention the system of numeration of the Ahts, 



SYSTEM OF NUMERATION. 121 

in connection with the question of their intellectual 
capacity. 

It will be seen from the list of Aht numerals in the 
Appendix, that there is no impediment to prevent the 
Indian from counting up to any number. As a matter of 
fact, he has seldom any necessity to use the higher 
numbers. The young men are, many of them, not well 
acquainted with their own numeration, and not un- 
frequently make kochtseyk " thirty," sootcheyk "fifty," 
and so on ; but this is certainly repudiated by the elders 
and those who still place a value upon the national mode 
of enumeration (see " Numerals," in the Appendix). 

It may be noticed that their word for one occurs again 
in that for six and nine, and the word for two in that for 
seven and eight. The Aht Indians count upon their 
fingers. They always count, except where they have learnt 
differently from their contact with civilisation, by raising 
the hands with the palms upwards, and extending all the 
fingers, and bending down each finger as it is used for 
enumeration. They begin with the little finger. This 
little finger, then, is one. Now six is five (that is, one 
whole hand) and one more. We can easily see then 
why their word for six comprehends the word for one. 
Again, seven is five (one whole hand) and two more — thus 
their word for seven comprehends the word for two. Again, 
when they have bent down the eighth finger, the most 
noticeable feature of the hand is that two fingers, that 
is, a finger and a thumb, remain extended. Now the Aht 
word for eight comprehends atlah, the word for two. The 
reason for this I imagine to be as follows : — Eight is ten 
(or two whole hands) wanting two. Again, when the ninth 



122 CONNECTION OF NUMERALS WITH WORDS. 

finger is down, only one finger is left extended. Their 
word for nine comprehends tsow-wauk, the word for one. 
Nine is ten (or two whole hands) wanting one. 

The classical reader will recollect that the Greeks 
expressed such a number as, for instance, "thirty-nine" 
by saying "forty, wanting one," or such a number as 
"thirty-eight" by saying "forty, wanting two." 

On this point, then, I think a similarity of view must 
have existed in the mind of the polished Greek, and the 
rude, but shrewd savage. There seems no cause to doubt 
the above reasonable explanation, which I had from an 
intelligent Indian.* 

A curious feature in connection with the numerals is 
that, in agreement with a certain class of words, they are 
used simply as they are set down in the list (see Appendix) ; 
but, with another class of words, the numerals have the 
affix of kamilh or kumilolah ; and again with other words, 
the affix of sok or sokko. Thus the Ahts say, tsow-ivauk 
or atlah, that is, "one" or "two," ko-us (man); or 
klootsmah (woman) ; or tsoowit (salmon) ; or ivaiv-it (frog) ; 
but with other words, for instance, with the words for 
dollar, paddle, house, stone, bird and beast of any sort, 
articles of clothing, and, in fact, with the majority of 
common names, the numerals noop - (kamilh) , atlah- 



* It may be interesting to notice some of the modes in which certain of 
the British Columbian Indian tribes express their numbers. For 6 the 
Carrier says twice 3. In 7, the Tshimpsean, like the Aht, has a 2. Into 

8, the Indians who live near the English towns of Douglas and Yale intro- 
duce a 1 ; while the Carrier, strong in his arithmetic says twice 4. For 

9, the Douglas and the Carrier have 10 save 1, and the Yale and Lytton 
Indians have 9 and 1 for 10, borrowing their Temilk from Teemilh, their 
Shewshwap neighbours' term for 9. 



METHOD OF DIVIDING THE YEAR. 123 

(Jcamilh), kochtsa-(kamilh), &c, are made use of. The 
affix sok or sokko is used of trees or masts, as sootcha- 
sokko klakkahs, " five trees;" Jcochtsa- sokko -kloksem 
chaputs, " a vessel with three masts." Of compound 
words in which numerals appear, I may mention tsow- 
wauchinnik, "unaccompanied;" atlahchinnik, " with one 
other" (i.e. "himself the second") ; and so on with the 
other numbers: tsow-wauhlus, " sole occupant" of a house; 
tsoiv-ivista, atlista, kochtsista, &c, " a canoe manned by 
one, two, three," &c. ; tsoiv-ivautshamma, atlistshamma, 
" with one wife," " with two wives." 

The method in which the natives divide the year may 
also be stated. 

The natives divide the year into thirteen months, or 
rather moons, and begin with the one that pretty well 
answers to our November. At the same time, as their 
names are applied to each actual new moon as it appears, 
they are not, by half a month and more (sometimes), 
identical with our calendar months. 

1. Mah-mayksoh is the first moon, to w T hich, meaning 

"elder brother" (see Vocabulary), the word is 
appropriately applied. "In this month the seals 
pair." 

2. Kathlahtik means " brother." Of this moon, and 

of another occurring seventh from it, they say, 
" It does not travel, but stays for two days." 

3. Hy-yeskikamilh, " the month of most snow." (So 

described and probably so derived, ei-yeh quees, 
i.e. hy-yes). 

4. Kahs-sit-imilh. 

5. Ay-yak'kamilh, " when the herrings spawn." 



124 NAMES OF MONTHS. 

(Ayyak, perhaps, is Ei-yeh-yahJc, i.e. " very 
long"). 

6. Outlohkamilh, " the month in which the geese leave 

for the lakes to breed." 

7. Oh-oh-kamilh. "In this month the strange geese 

from a distance fly at a great height on their way 
to the inland lakes." 

8. Tahklahclkamilh. " Before the end of this month 

the salmon-berry has just begun to ripen, and a 
small bird, with a single human sort of whistle, 
has arrived. " 

9. Kow-wishimilh. So named from koiv-ivit, "salmon- 

berry," and hishimilh, a " crowd " or " quantity," 
this being emphatically the salmon-berry month. 
Like kathlahtik, " this moon stays for two days." 

10. Aho-sit sis. 

11. Satsope-us. Evidently from the salmon so called. 

12. Enakonsimilh. Evidently from the salmon so 

called. 

13. Cheeyahk-amilh. 

I notice that this last moon (about October) and the 
fifth moon (about March), have each yak or yahk in them, 
which, by itself, as well as in composition, has the meaning 
of " long." 

I will now make a few remarks about the language of 
these people. 

Language of the Ahts. 

If the language has any grammatical construction at 
all — of which there certainly seem to be some traces — 
still it is in a most imperfect and partially developed state. 



LANGUAGE OF THE ARTS. 125 

Case, gender, and tense are not found, number is only 
recognised in the personal pronouns, and the inflection of 
the verbs, which is very irregular and imperfect, marks, so 
far as I know, little difference between singular and plural. 
The special characteristic of the language is that it is 
evdently made up of roots expressive of natural sounds and 
generic ideas. In many instances, in the case of newly 
formed or derivative compound words, in which, perhaps, 
one root retains its full form and significance, and the 
other or others retain their significance, but have partially 
lost their form, the Indian immediately recognises the un- 
altered root, and quickly also the roots of altered form 
when they are pointed out to him and his attention is 
given to them. Connected with this extensive use of 
roots in composition, is the readiness with which the 
natives invent names for any new objects. A compound 
word is suggested by some individual in the tribe who is 
considered skilful in forming appropriate names, and who, 
for the sake of sound, subjects the roots to great change 
and, often, abbreviation in the process of compounding. 
Yet all the Indians who hear the new word at once recog- 
nise its meaning, and it is added to their vocabulary. It 
is surprising to find how quickly universal among the 
tribes any such new name becomes. As a rule, in the 
formation of Aht compounds, one root remains unchanged, 
or nearly so, in the compound word, but the other roots in 
it are freely altered. A marked feature of the language is 
the numerous terminations to words which, evidently, 
have been formed from the same root. Mr. Anderson 
(see Cook's Voyages) mentions this as a defect of the 
language, as if the variety were useless and unreasonable ; 



126 ROOTS AND TERMINATIONS OF WORDS. 

but there is no doubt that these various terminations have 
their proper significance, though this may often be difficult 
to discover. 

The extensive use of roots and great variety of termi- 
nations may be mere barbarisms in a language ; but these 
peculiarities, on the other hand, may be usages and even 
proofs of qualities that are beautiful and valuable in the 
highest degree, — all depends on the language itself, its 
genius and capabilities. In the Greek, which in Homer's 
time, was used in a very primitive state of society, these 
peculiarities are at once observed ; and the scholar is well 
aware how adapted that most perfect language is for the 
conveyance of spiritual and moral truths, and how much 
this power of conveyance depends on its abundant use of 
root terms. I do not offer an opinion on the capabilities 
of the Aht language — these may, perhaps, be comparatively 
small — but, without for a moment comparing it with any 
more civilized language, I name the beauty and value of .a 
great variety of terminations and an extensive use of roots, 
both alone and in compound derivative words, — usages which, 
in themselves, in the Aht language, cannot be considered 
as defects. The language of the savage came from the 
same source as the most perfect and philosophically con- 
structed language, that is, from God Himself ; and it is a 
wonderful proof of wisdom, as regards language, that it 
should be simple enough for the use of even a savage, and 
yet contain elements, in common with the most refined and 
beautiful of languages, by which it is fitted for a develop- 
ment equal to the requirements of the most advanced 
stages of divine knowledge, of civilization and taste. 

A few instances of the Aht manner of compounding 



COMPOUND WORDS. 127 

words may be given. We find the root yats or yets, 
which expresses the idea of movement of the feet or legs : 
yetsook, is " to walk ; " yetspannich, " to walk and see ; " 
yetshitl, is "to kick;" and yetseh-yetsah (their only way 
of expressing either a frequentative or plural being by 
reduplication), is "to kick frequently." Yetseh-yet- 
sokleh, undoubtedly from the same root, is a " screw 
steamer." When the natives first saw one of these vessels, 
noticing the disturbance of the water astern, they attri- 
buted the propulsion to some action analogous to the 
stroke of the legs of a swimmer, and so the name of 
" continual kicker " was at once invented and universally 
received. This is an Indian's explanation, without sugges- 
tion or assistance. I may add that, in compound words, 
several consonants or syllables of the component parts 
are often run into one. This being the case, it is not 
unlikely that the tsok in the above word gives (as in many 
other instances) the idea of water (chu-uk). Another 
example of a new name, adopted within my own know- 
ledge, may be mentioned, w r hich shows that parts of 
different Aht words, expressing different ideas, are some- 
times brought together and combined into one word. 
Yahk means " long," and is probably connected with the 
yet more radical yeh, yah, which I have noticed seems in 
some words to give the idea of distance. Apuxim is 
" hair upon the face," hynmuxhel is "the mouth;" and 
there are other words of a similar sound showing the 
uxim and uxhel to have a particular reference to the face. 
These roots are formed into yahkpekuksel, "a beard." 
From this word, and ko-us, " a man," a combination of 
six syllables, the two-syllabled word yakpus is derived. 



128 ROOTS IN COMPOUND WORD 8. 

Yakpus is a proper name, meaning " beard-man," and was 
applied by its Indian inventor or suggestor to my dear 
friend, the late George Eeid, of Alberni. 

Klahchoochin, " a stranger," or literally, "the newly- 
come," is derived from klah, a root signifying "present 
time," and chookwah, " come." This last word is con- 
nected with the Chinook word chako. The radical klah is 
found also in the word klahooye, " now ; " Jclah-huksik, 
"the present generation;" and probably in klah-oh, 
"another," with its derivatives, klah-oh-quill, "the day 
after to-morrow," and klah-oh-quill-ooye, " the day before 
yesterday." The quill in the- two latter w T ords is found 
also in atlah-quill, " eight," and tsoiv-ivauk-quill, "nine," 
and probably means "beyond," or "in addition;" and 
the ooye of the last word is a word of time, used by itself 
to express " soon " or " presently," and found in words 
implying both the present and the past, as klah-ooye, 
ahm-ooye, klah-oh-quill-ooye. Even to one possessing 
only an imperfect knowledge of the language, the con- 
tinual presence of significant roots in compound words is 
evident. The peculiarity may be noticed in instances 
where the meaning of the root is entirely unknown (that 
is, unknown to any Indians I conversed with) ; thus, while 
chaputs is the word now used for canoe, the syllable kleel 
is found to occur in many words connected with a canoe. 
The similarity of the following words — kleetcha, " the 
steersman;" kleetchaik, "a rudder;" kleetshitl, "to 
steer;" kleetsuppem, "a sail;" kleetsmah, " stuff to sit 
on in a canoe;" and even klootsinnim, "the board which 
the paddler kneels upon," can hardly be accidental. 

Next to these prominent features of the Aht Ian- 



TERMINATIONS OF WORDS. 129 

guage, which may be farther verified by consulting the 
vocabulary, — to which I must generally refer the reader, 
as it is not my intention to comment on the lan- 
guage at length, — some of the most usual termina- 
tions of words deserve notice. Ah or mah is, in verbs, 
the termination of the first person both in the singular 
and plural ; huh or ayts, of the second ; and mah, win, or 
sometimes atlma, of the third person. These terminations, 
however, are not so bound to the verb but that sometimes 
they are transferred to an accompanying adverb, the exact 
manner of expression being apparently a good deal deter- 
mined by phonetic considerations, subject to rule. From 
wik, " not," and kamotop, " to understand," w T e get either 
icikah-kwnotop, or wimmutomah, both equally meaning, 
" I do not understand ; " but the latter word has lost two 
prominent consonants in the process of composition. In 
contradistinction to the terminations mah and utlma, which 
are applicable to the third person, the ultimate win, also 
applicable to the third person, has specially the curious 
meaning, in some instances, that the speaker has not seen 
that which he speaks of, and in other instances, that the 
object is not in sight at the time of his speaking. This 
reference to a past and a present may indicate a growth of 
the language tow r ards the formation of tenses, but the form 
has reference at present to space and locality, rather than 
to time, though the idea of time is often necessarily included 
in the expression. What I mean to observe is that perhaps 
ultimately the savage may use this termination " win " to 
express one of the two times (past or present), and adopt 
some other termination to express the other time. The 
"w" and the " n" sounds frequently are found in compound 

9 



130 EXPRESSIONS OF NUMBER AND TIME, 

words, the one implying a negative, and the other the 
idea of sight. It might, however, be considered fanciful 
to look for the derivation of the syllable win in these, even 
although ivaw-win, " to hunt by shouts from unseen 
hunters " (the game hearing only, and not seeing, their 
pursuers) ; and tupwin, to gird or girdle the waist (and so 
to conceal the nakedness), might seem to point in the 
same direction. The first syllable in waw-win is obviously 
the same as in waiv-wah or ivaw-waw, "to speak" or 
"shout." 

The expression of number is more definite in the Aht 
language than that of time. Keduplication of a significant 
syllable is used to describe number in objects and fre- 
quency in action. The words waw-waiv and tseka tseka 
are both used of sustained speech; tvaw means simply 
" to utter a shout," or "to say." I find the single word 
tsechkah in a vocabulary of eighty years ago, though I 
have not myself heard it without the reduplication. Of 
three words in the Aht language, meaning " to work," 
two, oo-ooshtuk and pe-pe-sati, have the doubled syllable, 
implying, no doubt, repeated action. Yetseh-yetsah and 
yetseh-yetsokleh have been already mentioned. Maht-mahs 
means "all the houses " or " the entire population," mahte 
or malis being the word for a single " house " or " settle- 
ment." The significance of the following terminals must 
be considered as only implying a general rule, more or less 
liable to exception. Instruments end in ik — as hukkaik, 
"a knife;" hissik, "a saw;" kleetchaik, "a rudder." 
Colours end in uk or ook, as ey-yoh-qtik, " green ; kistokkuk, 
" blue ; " klay-hook, " purple ; " kleesook, " white ; " toop- 
hook, "black" (hissit, "red," is an exception). 



TERMINATIONS. 131 

Trees and grasses end in pt, as kow-whipt, see-whipt, 
ootsmupt, hlahhupt, klakkamupt, and many others. 

Genera end in oop and toop, as eesh-toop, "house- 
hold things ; " sush-toop, " beasts of the forest ; " tel- 
hoop, " fishes of the sea." The word Jcleetstoop means 
" blankets," in contradistinction to the special name given 
to each blanket according to its colour. 

Verbs often end in shitl, shetl, and chitL This termi- 
nation is, on the whole, well-marked, though exceptions are 
very numerous. It would, in fact, be more correct to say 
that these endings, when occurring, are generally found 
in verbs, than to call them verbal terminations. They 
probably imply action or movement. Thus, apart from 
verbs, we meet with these ultimates in kleeshitl, (from 
kleesook, " white,") " the growing light of morning which 
comes before sunrise; " in toopshitl, (toop-kook, "black,") 
" the increasing darkness of sunset and immediately after; " 
and in moolshitl, " the flood, or flowing tide." 

The most common termination in the language is Ih. 
It is difficult to assign any uniform meaning to this termi- 
nation. I have sometimes thought that it expresses the 
application of the meaning of a general word to a word of 
a more particular import. Thus ey-yoh-quilh, the usual 
term of the Ahts for a green blanket, means " a green 
one." The general term for blanket, as named above, is 
kleetstoop ; as this word has no apparent connection with 
ey-yoh-quilh, and as the Ahts use now almost exclusively 
blankets for dress, we must suppose that in saying "a 
green one," they are referring to their usual and almost 
only covering. The word for a black blanket is toopkulh ; 
for white, kleeselh ; for red, klayhulh ; (klayhobk is purple, 



132 THE NITINAHT DIALECT. 

hissoolh is bloody.) Attalh or uttalh is an Aht word for 
black, evidently formed from attyh or uttyh, night. 

Terminations in up seem to convey the meaning of 
loss, curtailment, injury, as chd-tay-up, " to cut off with 
a knife;" kddsup, " to hurt, to wound;" hy-yusatyup, 
" to lessen or diminish ; " kaivkushup, " sickness of the 
eyes ; " ash-sup " to break a cord or string ; " quoy-up " to 
break a stick." 

The Nitinaht Dialect. 

Among the various tribes living round Nitinaht (or 
Barclay) Sound, that called the Nitinahts is the largest 
tribe of all those both round the Sound and on the coast. 
The Nitinahts live on the seaboard close to the ' Sound, 
and it is worthy of remark that they have more words and 
changes of verbal form peculiar to themselves than any 
other of the Aht tribes. Their speech differs more from 
that of the other tribes in Nitinaht (or Barclay) Sound than 
from the speech of the tribes immediately north of the 
Sound, though the latter are farther removed from them. 
This probably arises from the circumstance of the seaboard 
tribes of the Ahts having more intercourse with the tribes 
of other nations of Indians speaking different languages 
than the Aht tribes have who live inside the large Sounds. 
The Nitinaht tribe, known specially by that name, is 
nearer to the Indians on the other side of the Strait of 
Juan de Fuca ; and, additionally, as being a powerful tribe, 
represses, to a certain degree, the foreign intercourse of 
other seaboard tribes, and, therefore, naturally has most 
mixture of language, as the Nitinahts most visit and are 
visited by foreigners. Also, both Nitinahts and all other 



THE NITINAHT DIALECT. 133 

seaboard tribes have more foreign intercourse than the 
tribes living inside the Sounds, their position hindering 
these latter from visiting other nations, and strangers, on 
their part, being afraid to venture into the Sounds or inland. 
In common with several of the seaboard Aht tribes to 
the north, the Nitinahts have booiich (mooucli) for " deer ; " 
and I have also heard Nitinahts use atlah-sib, tsoiv-wau-sib, 
(Atlah-sim and tsoiv-wau-sim) for " eight " and "nine." 
On the other hand, the tribes inside Nitinaht (or Barclay) 
Sound use ahtoosh and atlahquill and tsow-wauk-quill 
respectively for the same, that is, for "deer," "eight" 
and " nine." The Nitinaht dialect, however, is understood 
by all the tribes, though now and then one notices that, in 
conversation with Indians of other tribes of their own 
nation, the Nitinahts have to repeat their words with some 
alteration of expression in order to make themselves under- 
stood. Much of the difference of their dialect from that 
of others of the Aht tribes consists in the fact that, in 
almost every instance, the m and n of the other tribes are 
changed by the Nitinahts into b and d; this, with the 
frequent abbreviation or expansion of words in composi- 
tion, often leads to singular alterations. Thus, for the 
common Aht words noowayksoh, "father," and oomayksoh, 
" mother," the Nitinahts have respectively dooux and 
abahx ; for quequenixo, " a hand," they have kookadooxyeh ; 
for nismah, "country" or "territory," dissibach ; for 
mamook " to work," baboik. Two of the Nitinaht numerals 
I may remark, chayukpalh, "six," and klah-ivha, "ten," 
are entirely different from those of the other tribes ; the 
rest are substantially the same. 



134 THE NOOTKAH DIALECT. 



Cook's List of Nootkah Wokds. 

Any one duly appreciating the difficulty of collecting 
the words of an unknown language without an interpreter 
will admire the industry of Mr. Anderson, surgeon of 
Cook's ship, the Resolution, who, in the short space of less 
than a month, obtained in the neighbourhood of Nootkah 
some 280 native words. The tribes who live in that 
neighbourhood, I may state, are the Moouchaht, Ayhutti- 
saht, Noochahlaht, and these form part of the Aht nation 
—a fact hitherto unknown. On examining Mr. Anderson's 
list, I recognize, inclusive of the first ten numerals, 133 
words which are substantially the same as words now spoken 
by the tribes in Nitinaht (or Barclay) Sound. The distance 
along the coast between Nootkah and Nitinaht is about 
90 miles. When from the remaining 147 words in Mr. 
Anderson's list are deducted those words in which the 
Nootkah Indians at present differ from the Nitinaht (or 
Barclay) Sound tribes, and those words in which they may 
agree, but with which agreement I am unacquainted, it is 
probable that very little change will be found to have 
taken place in the Aht language since Cook's visit eighty 
years ago ; perhaps not a greater change than might be 
observed in the language — say of the south of Scotland, 
within the last hundred years. It is singular that an 
unwritten language should have been preserved with so 
little alteration among tribes so widely scattered, and who 
have so often opposed each other with deadly hatred.* 

* The language of the Indians in the interior of America— commonly 
called the Indians of the Plain — is constantly changing, owing to their 
roving habits and intermixture with other tribes. In the case of some of 



MR. ANDERSON'S VOCABULARY. 



135 



The curious pronunciation remarked upon by Mr. 
Anderson as only approximately represented by lozth may 
have been somewhat altered and simplified by lapse of 
time, or it may be a peculiarity not shared by those of 
the Aht tribes best known to me. The words spelt by him 
according to that pronunciation are now pronounced in 
different instances as thl, Ith, or Ih, or are at least nearly 
represented by such a combination of letters ; not very 
different, after all, from Mr. Anderson's pronunciation, only 
I cannot distinguish the sound of s or z. I quite recognize 
what Mr. Anderson means when he says, " It is formed 
by clashing the tongue partly against the roof of the mouth 
with considerable force, and may be compared to a very 
coarse or harsh method of lisping." I do not, however, 
recognize an actual lisp, which would, of course, imply the 
presence of a sibilant. In Mr. Anderson's vocabulary I 
find, without any very careful examination, a few words 
either erroneously set down by him, or which have since 
changed their meaning. The error (if any) in one or two 
cases may easily be explained. I here give a few words, 
as set down by Mr. Anderson, and also their present 
pronunciation and meaning : — 



Mr. Anderson's Words. 
Nootkah. 
Opulszhl, " the sun." 
Onalszthl, " the moon." 
Tsechkah, " a general song." 



Present Words. 

Nitinaht (or Barclay) Sound. 
Hoop-pa Ih, " the moon." 
Nas, " the sun." 
Tseka, " to speak, say, or sing." 



these tribes, the vocabulary of a missionary is of little use to his successor 
after the lapse of a dozen years. The Coast Indians, on the other hand, 
remain for generations — perhaps for centuries — on one spot, and their 
language, consequently, is less susceptible of alteration, notwithstanding 
the effect of the coast intercourse before alluded to. 



136 



MR. ANDERSON' 8 VOCABULARY. 



Mr. Anderson's Words. 
Nootkah. 

Haweelsth, or Hawalth, " friendship, 
friend." 

Eineetl, " goat, deer." 

Okumha, " the wind." 

Tchoo, " throw it down." 

Jakops, " a man." 

Nahei, Naheis, " friendship." 

Ta-eetcha, " full, satisfied with eat- 
ing." 



Present Words. 
Nitinaht (or Barclay) Sound. 
How-wilh, " chief." 
Ahtoosh, or, Moouch, " deer." 
Ennitl, " dog." 
Wikseh, " wind." 

Tchoo, "incites to any sort of ac- 
tion." 
Chekoop, "a husband." 
Ko-us, " a man." 

Nahay, Nahais, " give or to give." 
Teech, " well ; not sick." 
Teechah, " I am well." 



The present meaning of tush-she is " a door- way/' the same 
word being applied to any gangway, and also to a track or 
road in the woods. Mooshussem is " a door or lid." For 
klao or klao-appi, a word of likely occurrence in barter with 
Indians, Mr. Anderson has "keep it," or "I'll not have 
it," having, I daresay, assigned that meaning to the word 
from the evident dissatisfaction expressed by the person 
using it. The real meaning of klao is " another," or 
" something else ; " and klao-appi means " substitute 
something else." The expression, therefore, does not 
convey so much a refusal of the article offered in barter 
as a request that something else more acceptable should 
be produced. * Klao, or klah-oh, is a word which enters 
frequently into the speech of the Ahts, and always with 
the signification of " another" or "some more." Ah-ah- 
tomah-klah-oh Oliver is a literal rendering of " Oliver 
asks for more." Ohkidlik, or ohquinnik, set down by 
Mr. Anderson as the general term for " box," is now 
used only to describe a box with double sides, the inner 
ones sliding out. The innih or ullik gives the idea of 
duality; klah-hix is the common term for "a box;" 



AFFINITY OF INDIAN LANGUAGES. 137 

klah-haytsoh for one having a lid fitting over the sides. 
The word allee, or alia, which Mr. Anderson translates 
"friend," or "hark ye," is the same as the present 
Nitinaht (or Barclay) Sound anni, and the Chinook annah, 
the transition from n to I, easy in all languages, being 
particularly so in the Aht language, in which a sound 
often lies halfway between two kindred consonants. The 
exact meaning of anni is "look." It is connected with 
the reply generally made to it, anni-mah, "I see;" with 
cheh-neh, " I do not know," or, more literally, "I do not 
see," or "have not seen;" and also, no doubt, with the 
Chinook nanich, "to see;" and many other words in 
which the same root may be traced. The word kaweebt, 
applied by Mr. Anderson to the wild raspberry, is now 
used by the Ahts for a very common and well-known berry- 
bush, to which the colonists give the name of " the salmon- 
berry." Though not the wild raspberry, it is of the same 
order of plants, and not unlike it in appearance, and when 
in flower might easily be mistaken for the wild raspberry. 

Affinity of the Indian Languages on the 
North- West Coast. 

An adequate acquaintance with the Indian languages 
spoken in Vancouver Island, and on the north-west coast 
of the continent, would throw a trustworthy and most inte- 
resting light on the early history of the different nations 
of Indians ; at least on so much of their early history as 
consisted in their migrations. On this point, however, 
I will confine my observations to the people on the outside 
coast of the island, with whom I happen to be acquainted. 
A cursory notice is sufficient to prove to the traveller the 



138 LANGUAGE OF THE ART TRIBES. 

close similarity of the languages of all the Aht tribes, 
and, therefore, the relationship of the people ; and he is 
surprised, on going along the coast towards the north of the 
island, where no great physical obstruction prevents com- 
munication between the different tribes, to find a boundary, 
as it were, beyond which the speech of the Aht people 
(phonetically, at least,) is so much changed, that even 
numerals and other radical forms have no appearance of 
similarity. I hesitate to affirm that the several languages 
in Vancouver Island are absolutely distinct, for I have not 
closely studied the whole of them. The contrast I speak of, 
in reference to the Aht language, appears about Cape Scott, 
at the northern end of Vancouver Island, where this lan- 
guage meets the language of the Quoquoulth (the Indians 
of the north and north-east of the island) ; and the contrast 
appears again towards the south end of the island at 
some point between Pacheenah and Victoria, where the 
Aht language comes into abrupt contact with the Kowitchan, 
or dialects of the Kowitchan. But though these points, 
north and south, are the limits of the districts in which 
the Aht language proper in Vancouver Island is spoken, 
the same language probably crosses the Straits of Juan 
de Fuca, and is traceable, with gradual and increasing 
alterations, through all the tribes along the ocean-coast, 
from about Cape Flattery to the mouth of the Columbia 
Eiver. There is a decided resemblance between the Aht 
language and many words of the Chinook jargon, which 
is a portion of the language of the now almost extinct 
Chinook tribes at the mouth of the Columbia Eiver, 
supplemented by words of other tribal dialects on the 
north-west coast; also by French, English, Hawaian, and, 



CHINOOK AND AHT WORDS. 139 

perhaps (but of these I am doubtful), Spanish words. The 
real Chinook was the first coast language of the north- 
west coast languages that was learned by settlers and 
traders on the banks near the mouth of the Columbia 
Eiver ; and a portion of it was afterwards incorporated into 
a barbarous jargon, to facilitate communication with other 
natives.* I know about 100 words of the Chinook jargon, 
and probably 500 of the Aht language, and among these, 
without research, I can recall the following parallels : — 

Chinook. Aht. 

Mowitch, " a deer " Moouch, " a deer " 

Syah, " far away " Si-yah, " far away." 

Kloosh, " good " Kloothl, " good." 

( Chu-uk, " water." 
Chuk, « water » j ^^ (t ft riyer „ 

Kumtax, " to understand " Kumotop, " to understand." 

I Nanetsah, "to see." 
Nanich, " to see " j Yetspannich, " to walk out and see." 

Hyas, « great " Eher, " great." 

Hy-ya, " a great many " Ei-yeh, " a great many." 

Hyemmah, " a great many." 
Hy-yu, " ten, i. e., the highest number 
one can count on the fingers." 

Chako, " to come " , Chookwah, " come." 

Klootchman, " a woman" Klootsmah, " a married woman." 

Klootchmoop, " a sister." 

Wayk, " no, not" Wik^wiklytywikah^waykomahy^no^ot.^ 

Wah-wah, " to speak " Wah, u to speak." 

Keekilly " low, deep down " Keekqulh, " submerged." 

Many other words suggest themselves, not showing 
such an evident similarity, but still conclusive to one 
knowing something of the Aht language. The similar ity 
to the Chinook is contained often in some composite word, 

* This is the real- origin of the Chinook jargon, in reference to which 
one writer after another copies the conventional nonsense that the Hudson 
Bay Company " invented " it. Such an achievement as the invention of a 
language is beyond the capabilities of even a chief factor. 



140 CHINOOK AND ART WORDS. 

where the resemblance has been almost entirely lost in the 
expression of the more simple idea. Thus — to take a 
partial instance from one of the parallels just adduced — the 
word nanetsah retains, indeed, the radical nan found in the 
Chinook nanich, but has a different termination. The 
Chinook termination, however, has remained in the Aht 
composite word yetspannich, a word which means " to go out 
and look about," and is applied to any one strolling about 
without any apparent object. In like manner, the Chinook 
roots chuk, tsuk, enter continually into Aht composite words, 
and convey a reference to water ; ivik and tvayk, in com- 
position, imply a negative; and nan and an, similarly, 
imply sight ; and kloothl implies good — thus showing a 
much more intimate connection between the Chinook and 
Aht tongues than the mere similarity of a few words, not 
in a composite form, would suggest. It may be objected 
that the Aht Indians, a few of whom know something of 
the Chinook jargon, may have introduced some of the 
words among their own words ; but, with any knowledge 
of the languages, it seems impossible to hold this opinion. 
The Ahts know perhaps fewer of the Chinook words than 
any other Indians in the island, and yet the other Van- 
couver Indian languages do not, so far as I know, exhibit the 
same similarity to the Chinook. The Ahts have absolutely 
no other word for water than chu-uk, and it is not likely 
that they would have adopted the Chinook word, and 
entirely lost their own term for such a common necessary. 
The various tribes of the Aht nation differ a little, but a 
very little, in their language ; each tribe having some 
few words quite peculiar to itself. One of these differences 
affords fair evidence of the reality of the relation between 



SIMILARITY OF CHINOOK AND AHT TONGUES. 141 

the Aht and the Chinook ; the difference to which I allude 
is the variation in the term for deer among different Aht 
tribes. Those Aht tribes which have, in modern times, seen 
most of the white man, and, therefore, heard most of 
Chinook, inhabit Nitinaht (or Barclay) Sound. The name 
which the tribes in that locality have for a deer is ahtoosh, 
but other Aht tribes more to the north, who have heard less 
of Chinook than the others — tribes such as the Ahousaht or 
Moouchaht — call a deer mooiich, which has a very close 
likeness to the Chinook moiuitch. This similarity of an 
important word in the two tongues existing among those 
Aht tribes ignorant of Chinook, and which happens not to 
be found in the language of the tribes who know Chinook, 
is one proof of an old connection of the Aht and Chinook 
languages. I have said that, in Cook's list of words, made 
eighty years ago, a general resemblance of the two languages 
is found; and I may here add that an intelligent Indian on 
the west coast of the island has remarked to me upon the 
similarity of the Aht and the Chinook, without any sug- 
gestion from me ; also, that the conclusion thus indepen- 
dently formed is confirmed by those traders who are most 
familiar with the dialects spoken along the coast. Being 
altogether unacquainted with the neighbouring languages 
on the nearest American territory, I do not know whether 
the Aht form of language has kept merely to the ocean 
coast, or has in any instance penetrated into the interior of 
the country. I should expect to find that it adhered to 
the coast ; but, no doubt, the course of the language might 
be altered and directed inland by such a feature as a great 
river, or a range of mountains. The distance, following 
the ocean coast, from Cape Scott in Vancouver Island to 



142 TRIBAL NAMES. 

the Columbia River, which, so far as I know, is the range 
of the Aht language, is about 400 miles. I have not 
attempted to trace the language outside of these limits, 
and I can form no opinion whether the Aht people spread 
originally from the Columbia River, along the coast towards 
the north, or whether they spread south from the west coast 
of Vancouver Island. 

Tribal Names. 

The Indians relate that Quawteaht gave names to most 
or all of the things on land, and in the sky, and sea ; and 
that he, also, is the author of their tribal names. The 
terminal of all the tribal names, namely, aht, is the termi- 
nal of Quawteaht's own name. This story of the Indians 
is a myth ; the tribal names probably were adopted to 
describe the principal features of some locality, or in honour 
of a great chief. It is possible that the affix aht, which 
terminates the tribal names, is identical with maht, mahte, 
or mahs, which are words respectively meaning " house." 
The word mahte is not only applied to the material build- 
ing, but also to the settlement or population. Maht-mahs 
(the reduplication being their only way of forming a plural) 
means "the whole population," or " all the settlements." 
The word Ishinnikquaht, " next door," or "next house," 
is an instance of aht in composition, giving to the com- 
posite word the meaning of " house," as Ishinnik means 
" with," " close to," " next to." Quisaht, abbreviated 
compound of quispah and mahte, signifies " the further 
settlements " — quispah meaning " further," or "on the 
other side," and mahte meaning " house," as above stated. 

The natives do not apply the tribal name, with its 



TRIBAL NAMES. 143 

terminal aht, to the district owned by the tribe, but only 
to the village and people. The Seshaht territory is called 
Sesh ; that of Ohyaht, Ohy ; that of Pacheenaht, 
Pacheen. It is not unreasonable to suppose that all the 
names of the tribes were significant when first applied ; 
and, in spite of the legend of Quawteaht, we may be 
inclined to believe that each new settlement, as it was 
formed, received its name from some particular feature of 
the locality, or some notable occurrence connected with the 
new establishment. When we find in the language noochee, 
" mountain ; " moouch, " deer ; " klah-oh, " another ; " 
koquahowsah, " a seal ; " it seems reasonable to recognise 
in the tribal appellations of Noochahlaht, Moouchaht, 
Klah-oh-quaht, Ahousaht, names which will bear the simple 
translations, " mountain-house,' ' " deer-house," " another 
house," " seal-house." Several other tribal names of the 
Ahts seem to be significant, though not quite so obviously 
as the above. The Indian's mode of forming a name is 
often difficult to trace, as a long word is sometimes 
represented in composition by only a single syllable, or 
even a single letter. 



( 144 



CHAPTEE XVI. 

A GREAT DEER HUNT. 

The Waw-win— a great Deer Hunt. 



Rare work ! all filled with terror and delight. — Cowley. 

It is not of much use going out to shoot deer on the west 
coast without the assistance of an Indian. One may walk 
alone, day after day, over the rough wooded mountains 
without raising a deer, while an Indian on the same ground 
will get several shots. After trying all the usual ways of 
shooting deer — by stalking them on the hills, by lying in 
ambush, and by pushing them out of covert, I arranged 
for a great deer hunt at Alberni in February, 1864.* Nearly 

* " Eheufugaces, Postume, Postume, Labuntur annil" Alas ! do not 
our fleeting years too quickly end ! Which of my welcome friends, 
Anderson, Ker, Connell, Gaskell — men of the right kidney, each one — does 
not remember the glorious days spent in the chase at Alberni, and the 
hearth piled with well-dried logs that greeted our return? 

" But ye whom social pleasure charms, 
Whose hearts the tide of kindness warms, 
Who hold your being on the terms, 

' Each aid the others/ 
Come to my bowl, come to my arms, 

My friends, my brothers ! " 



INDIAN HUNTERS. 145 

a whole tribe of Indians took part in this tvaw-icin, as they 
call it ; as far as I could judge, there were about ninety 
men in the forest, and half of them were armed with guns. 
This grand battue is called by the natives waw-win^ from 
the word ivaiv, which means to speak or shout. The practice 
is for a number of Indians to spread over a district and 
drive the deer with shouts through the forest towards some 
lake or arm of the sea, on the banks of which they are 
killed, and canoes are kept in readiness to capture or drive 
back those that are bold enough to attempt escape by 
swimming. The deer I speak of is the black-tailed deer ; 
I have never known the wapiti to be captured in a waw- 
win. The wapiti is not found in such numbers as the 
black-tailed deer, nor does the wapiti often come near the 
coast, where only a waw-win can take place, near some 
large village. 

There had been heavy falls of snow, and the Indians 
were certain that many deer had come down from the 
higher mountains, and would be found on the side of a 
great, rugged, wooded hill, which rose steep from the 
Alberni inlet. A swollen torrent, rising from a source 
inland, flowed across the back of this hill, and, at the 
southern extremity of the hill, this torrent fell into the 
Alberni inlet. The hill itself occupied about two miles of 
frontage on the inlet. Thus the reader will perceive that 
there was but one side, the north one, left open for the 
inland escape of the deer — in fact like the base of a triangle. 
On this base, if I may so call it, at certain intervals, men 
were placed to hem in the deer, and then advance and 
drive them forward into the corner or apex of the triangle, 
where the torrent fell into the Alberni inlet. When driven 

10 



146 PREPARATIONS FOR THE HUNT. 

into this spot the deer were to be shot. This base was 
probably about a mile in length. The sloping face of the 
hill measured about a thousand feet ; its surface was 
broken by ravines and hollows, by precipices and huge 
masses of rock, all of which were hidden by the forest, and 
to be seen only as one came upon them in walking. These 
irregularities of the surface favoured the growth of many 
clumps of young fir trees, and among these the deer found 
shelter. It was common to have a waw-win hunt on this 
hill, when deer were wanted for some great intertribal feast. 
The Indians spent the evening before the day appointed 
for the hunt in dancing and singing, and in various cere- 
monies intended to secure good luck on the morrow. We, 
on our part, cleaned our rifles, and got to bed soon. About 
two o'clock in the morning, the Indians assembled on the 
hill, and occupied the base line above described. They 
took no dogs with them. I crossed the inlet in a canoe, 
with three other gentlemen, and reached the ground about 
two hours later. The Indians did not appear to be under 
the command of any one, nor did they advance in any 
order, but straggled forward, beating the bushes and 
pushing through the clumps of young trees, shouting 
loudly all the time. It was very cold and very fatiguing 
work, as we laboured over fallen trees and occasionally 
sank deep into the snow. I often wished I had left my rifle 
at home, for it was heavy to carry, and we saw few deer, and 
could not fire, owing to the danger of hitting the men. I 
had landed on the north part of the hill, at one end of the 
base line spoken of, and I had intended to proceed from 
man to man of the Indians as they advanced, that I might 
notice their proceedings. This plan would have brought 



BEATING THE BUSH. 147 

me to some point of the torrent at the back of the hill, 
but I soon found that the Indians advanced too quickly to 
allow me to carry it out. If I had persevered in my 
attempt to do so, I should have been left behind, and 
have been quite out of the way of witnessing the result 
when the deer were hemmed in at the south of the hill, 
where they were to be shot down. 

As we went on, the Indians collected into twos and 
threes and fours, which was a sign that the line was 
being shortened, and the hunters were pushed one against 
another. The excitement was now great among all the 
Indians that I saw ; they laughed, and yelled, and redoubled 
their exertions to start the deer, and we occasionally 
heard muskets cracking along the line. The effect of all 
this manoeuvring now began to be seen ; a herd of twenty 
or thirty deer came bounding over the snow towards us, 
and, being greeted with terrific yells, turned and fled. I 
had never been quite able to keep up with the Indians, few 
white men could ; and now as the noise and excitement and 
the musketry increased, I decided on not advancing much 
farther towards the angle we were approaching, lest the 
fate of William Kufus should overtake me. The surface 
of the side of the hill was so broken, and the trees were so 
numerous and large, that one could see only a small bit of 
ground airy where. The deer seemed now so desperate as 
to have lost their timidity ; many broke through the line 
of their enemies and escaped. 

From the top of a mass of rock on which I was glad to 
rest, I saw beneath me a bare patch of the hill-side ; beyond 
that the forest again, and farther down still a low gravelly 
point without trees, which formed the angle at the meeting 

10—2 



148 RESULTS OF THE CHASE. 

of the torrent with the inlet. A few canoes were floating 
about as if waiting for something. The shouting and 
yelling, and a confused noise of voices and of feet trampling 
the branches of prostrate trees, were now heard on every 
side. Deer leapt wildly across the bare patch and dis- 
appeared in the wood beyond, followed by Indians excited 
as only uncivilized men can be ; then first one deer, then a 
few, then more deer trotted out on the gravelly point, and 
looked about in all directions, and smelt the water. There 
was soon a large herd on the point, and, in a few minutes, 
the pursuers began advancing a little along the point and 
firing. The shooting was very bad, and the deer trotted 
about for many minutes without losing more than a few of 
their number. I loaded and fired my rifle as fast as I could ; 
but, being a long way off, probably did little damage. My 
friends having now come to me, we descended and joined 
the Indians, in order to bring the morning's work to as 
speedy a termination as possible. It was extraordinary to 
notice the carelessness of the Indians ; after all their 
exertions to bring the deer to this place, they allowed 
nearly one-third of them to escape. A few deer took to 
the water, but the canoes pursued them, and they were 
turned back to the shore by blows of the paddles on their 
heads. The total number killed during this waw-win was 
fifty-three, that is to say, sixteen during the chase and 
thirty-seven on the point of land. We sat down for a 
time after the hunt was over, and the Indians had a long 
talk among themselves to decide how the deer were to be 
divided. The man whose hunting ground the hill was 
considered to be — though not a chief — received the largest 
share of any. ' s The Indians do not much relish deer-meat, 



DIVISION OF THE SPOIL. 149 

and, on this occasion, seemed to value the skins more than 
any other part of the animal, except for the chance they 
had of selling the venison to some of the ships at Alberni. 
We left them discussing the proceedings and the results of 
the hunt, and went home to our breakfast. 



( 150 > 



CHAPTEE XVII. 

MORAL DISPOSITIONS. 

The Savage Character — Vindictiveness — Coldbloodedness — Attack on the 
Elkwhahts — Murder of a Girl — Human Sacrifice — Custom of the 
Min-okey-ak — Notions about Stealing — Affection for Children — 
Habitual Suspicion — Want of Foresight — Absence of Faith — Ingrati- 
tude — Sincerity of the Indian's Declarations. 



Judge from their own mean hearts, and foully wrong mankind. — Southey. 



It is very difficult, for a civilized man, to form in his mind 
a correct estimate of the moral condition of a savage. In 
one part of his character the savage resembles the lowest 
members of a civilized community — such as the outcasts 
in large cities ; but another part of his character, inherited 
through a long succession of moral degradation, unchecked 
by any surrounding counteracting influences, is unlike 
anything that can be witnessed even in the most brutalized 
individual in a civilized community. There is a resem- 
blance, in many respects closer than one likes to admit, 
between the promptings and habits of uncivilized man and 
those of the wild beasts which he hunts. The Aht savage 
seems to the traveller, on a first observation, very like an 



FIRST IMPRESSIONS. 151 

animal with a superior instinct and the gift of rude speech. 
Regarding him in that light, or, at least, not quite as a 
fellow-man, I have been pleased with his conversation, par- 
ticularly with his account — given in the easy but striking- 
manner characteristic of narrators who are free from 
drudgery and live much out of doors * — of the ingenious 
ways in which he captures fish, wild animals, and birds ; 
and it has been only on turning the talk towards other 
topics — such as the history and destiny of his race in this 
world, or after death, and on remembering, in connection 
with these thoughts, that the untutored Indian was a 
fellow-being — that I have fully realized his actual be- 
nighted condition. The first natural impulse of any 
civilized observer, who judges by recognized standards 
for appreciating a social and moral condition, is to turn 
with aversion from a people so degraded as the natives 
on this coast ; but, in my own case, I found that this 
feeling gradually changed to one of interest and curiosity, 
after seeing them in their own villages, where all their 
ways and doings had, at least, the recommendation of being 
thorough and of being novel. It then appeared that, 
together with the rude vices of a man always cut off from 
every external influence of an improving kind, the savage 
had some qualities that were of a nature to be commended : 
he was sincere in his friendship, kind to his wife and 
children, and devotedly loyal to his own tribe. His hos- 
pitality and faithfulness to any trust reposed in him were 



* No persons equal in power and manner of graphic oral narration , 
those gentlemen in the Hudson Bay Company's service who have passed 
the greater part of their lives in the Indian country, remote from all 
civilized intercourse. 



152 PROMINENT CHARACTERISTICS. 

noticeable virtues. I also found, on visiting his house, 
that he had much more of what was playful and kindly 
in his nature towards his relatives and friends, than one 
would expect him to have. And, of course, the more inti- 
mately the savage became known to me, the more clearly 
man, in man's natural condition and proportions, stood forth, 
exhibiting a character which owed its peculiarity specially to 
excess or defect in regard to the moral qualities — qualities 
which he shared with the rest of the human race. These 
excesses and defects come up before one's mind, in de- 
scribing his character, far more readily than any good 
qualities which the Indian possesses. His virtues do 
not reach our standard, and his vices exceed our stan- 
dard ; so, in reflecting on his character, we naturally think 
first of his vices, not of his virtues. The prominent 
characteristics which I have observed in the Ahts are a 
want of observation, a great deficiency of foresight, extreme 
fickleness in their passions and purposes, habitual suspi- 
cion, and a love of power and display. Added to which 
may be noticed their ingratitude and revengeful disposi- 
tions, their readiness for war, and revolting indifference 
to human suffering. A murder, if not perpetrated on one 
of his own tribe, or on a particular friend, is no more to 
an Indian than the killing of a dog, and he seems alto- 
gether steeled against human misery, when found among 
ordinary acquaintances or strangers. The most terrible 
sufferings, the most pitiable conditions, elicit not the 
slightest show of sympathy, and do not interrupt the 
current of his occupations or his jests for a moment. 



REVENGEFUL SPIRIT. 153 

VlNDICTIVENESS, 

The Akt natives are very revengeful, and appear to ckerisk 
rancour for a length of time, sometimes for more tkan one 
generation. Disputes ketween individuals lead to impla- 
cakle family feuds. Tkougk it is usual to accept large pre- 
sents as expiation for murder, yet, practically, tkis expiation 
is not complete, and klood alone effectually atones for klood. 
An accepted present never quite cancels tke okligation to 
punisk in tke kreast of tke offended person or trike. Many 
years after tke offence, and, generally, when disappointed 
in some klood-tkirsty expedition, tkese savages will call to 
mind an old injury, and make it tke pretext for a mur- 
derous attack on an unsuspecting trike. An illustration of 
tkis is afforded ky an occurrence in tke Straits of Fuca a 
few years ago. Tke Nitinahts, on tke Vancouver Island 
skore, kad mustered for an expedition to attack another 
island trike near Victoria, kut were deterred ky tke arrival 
of several skips of war at Esquimalt. Tkese were Englisk 
skips of war, wkick, after tke unsuccessful attack on Petro- 
paulovski, went to Vancouver Island to refit. Unwilling 
to go kack without heads for trophies, the Nitinahts deter- 
mined to attack the Elkwkakts, on the south side of the 
Straits — a tribe against which they bore a grudge for some 
old injury, kut witk wkick people tke Nitinakts kad, since 
tke injury, keen for years on friendly terms. After night- 
fall, the attackers paddled across the Straits, and drew 
their canoes over the rocks, into the forest near the Elk- 
whaht village. It was the fishing season, and a quiet 
morning in summer. Before the sun rose, the Elkwkakts 
were out in tkeir canoes risking, at some distance from 



154 PROMINENT CHARACTERISTICS. 

the shore. All at once the eager enemy rushed from the 
forest, dragging their canoes, and, embarking in them, 
they intercepted the terrified, unarmed fishermen before 
they could reach the land. The women and children 
ran out of the houses and shrieked, but there was no 
battle. In a few minutes the headless bodies of the 
Elkwhahts were lying in their canoes, which floated here 
and there, and the victors were paddling across the Straits, 
singing a death-song. 

Coldbloodedness. 

I was told by a trustworthy eye-witness of another 
bloody act, committed at Klah-oh-quaht Sound by a native 
who is well known to me. My informant, while trading 
on the coast, stayed to sleep at the village. While at 
supper, he heard the death-song ; and, gn going out of 
the house, found the natives assembling to meet canoes 
on their return from a warlike expedition. It was clear 
moonlight, so that everything could be seen. The men 
landed and danced on the beach, many holding high in 
one hand a musket, and in the other, several human heads. 
A few captives were dragged by the hair towards the 
village. Amongst these were two children, a boy and 
girl, of about twelve years of age, who had been captured 
by the Indian alluded to. * This savage had been at San 
Francisco, and could speak a word or two of English. 
Anybody on the west coast of Vancouver Island knows 
" trader George " (the Indian in question), the rich 
merchant of Klah-oh-quaht. Approaching my informant 
in a state of great excitement, he repeated, " me strong," 
" me brave," " me very strong heart/' and suddenly drew 



HUMAN SACRIFICE. 155 

his long knife, and so quickly severed the girl's head that 
the blood spouted upwards, and the body seemed to steady 
itself for a moment before it fell. The demon danced 
with the head in his hand, and pushed on the boy before 
him. This infernal crime was committed merely to show 
to the white man that the native warrior had a " strong 
heart."* 

I may mention another atrocity which occurred within 
a few yards of my house. As a magistrate, I had to take 
official cognizance of this act. In December, 1864, the 
Seshaht Indians, then occupying their village close to 
Alberni, put one of their women to a violent death. The 
day before they commenced a celebration of a peculiar 
character, w T hich was to last several days, and the murder 
of the woman formed, no doubt, a part of this celebration. 
The woman was stabbed to death by an old man in w T hose 
house she lived, and who probably owned her as a slave, 
and offered her for a victim. The body was then laid out 
without a covering by the water-side, about a hundred and 
fifty yards from the houses. There appeared to be no 
inclination to bury the body, and it was only after the chief 
had been strongly remonstrated with that the poor victim's 
remains were removed, after two days' exposure. I observed 
that even after this removal, certain furious rites took 
place over the very spot where the body had been exposed. 
The chief feature of the celebration, apart from the murder, 
was a pretended attack upon the Indian settlement by 
wolves, which were represented by Indians, while the rest 

* It may be said that in killing this girl, the Klah-oh-quaht only exer- 
cised his right as a victor, according to Aht ideas. This, however, is little 
more than saying that the rest of his tribe were as infernal as himself. 



.156 ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS. 

of the population, painted, armed, and with furious shouts, 
defended their houses from attack. The horrid practice of 
sacrificing a victim is not annual, but only occurs "either 
once in three years, or else (which is more probable) at 
uncertain intervals ; always, however, when it does happen, 
the sacrifice takes place during the Klooh-quahn-nah 
season, which lasts from about the middle of November to 
the middle of January. The Klooh-quahn-nah or Klooh- 
quel-lah is a great festival observed annually by all the 
Aht tribes, after their return from their fishing-grounds 
to the winter encampment. It is generally a time of mirth 
and feasting, during which tribal rank is conferred, and 
homage done to the chief, in a multitude of observances 
which have now lost their meaning, and cannot be 
explained by the natives themselves. I was not aware 
until this murder w r as committed under our eyes, that 
human sacrifices formed any part of the Klooh-quahn-nah 
celebration. I should think it likely that old worn-out 
slaves are generally the victims. The Seshaht Indians 
at Alberni represent the practice as most ancient, and 
the fact that the other tribes of the Aht nation (about 
twenty in number) observe it, favours this supposition. 
Their legends somewhat differ as to this practice, some 
saying that it was instituted by the Creator of the world ; 
others that it arose from the sons of a chief of former 
times having really been seized by wolves.* To some 

* These Indians imitate animals and birds extremely well, such as 
wolves or crows. At this Klooh-quahn-nah celebration they had their hair 
tied out from their heads, so as to represent a wolf's head and snout, and the 
blanket was arranged to show a tail. The motion of the wolf in running 
was closely imitated. More extraordinary still was their acting as crows ; 
they had a large wooden bill, and blankets arranged so like wings that, in 



SANGUINARY RITES. 15? 

extent it is a secret institution, the young children not 
being acquainted with it until formally initiated. Many 
of them during the horrid rite are much alarmed ; the 
exhibition of ferocity, the firing of guns and shouting, 
being calculated, and probably intended, to excite their 
fears. Part of a day is given up to an instruction of those 
children who are to be initiated, and it is impressed upon 
them that the Klooh-quahn-nah must always be kept up, 
or evil will happen to the tribe. The tendency, no doubt, 
and probably the intention of this human sacrifice, and the 
whole celebration, is to destroy the natural human feeling 
against murder, and to form in the people generally, and 
especially in the rising generation, hardened and fierce 
hearts. They themselves say that their " hearts are bad," 
as long as it goes on. In the attendant ceremonies, their 
children are taught to look, without any sign of feeling, 
upon savage preparations for war, strange dances performed 
in hideous masks, and accompanied by unearthly noises, 
and occasionally, at least, upon the cruel destruction of 
human life. Although I have no direct evidence of the 
fact, I believe that part of the course of those to be 
initiated would be to view, howi over, and perhaps handle, 
or even stick their knives into the dead body of the victim, 
without showing any sign of pity or of horror. 

A strange belief, of which I could get no explanation, 
nor learn its origin, existed lately among these people 
connected with an instrument called min-okey-ak, made 
of a stone or other hard substance, fastened to the end of 

the dusk, the Indians really seemed like large crows hopping about, particu- 
larly when, after the manner of these birds, they went into the shallow 
water, and shook their wings and " dabbed " with their long bills. 



158 HORRIBLE SUPERSTITION. 

a long string. This instrument was supposed to be thrown 
from an unseen hand, and the person struck by it sickened 
and died. No one was allowed to live who knew how to 
make the min-okey-ak. The last person possessing this 
knowledge among the Ohyahts — the tribe from which I 
derived this information — was a young man of a family of 
eight men, and it was resolved at a meeting of the chiefs, 
that the whole family should be extirpated. On an ap- 
pointed day, four of the doomed men were asked, one after 
another, by different individuals to go fishing or hunting, 
and each was killed by his companion unawares. The 
other four, on the same day, were invited to a feast, and 
murderers sat beside them with concealed knives, who, at 
a given signal, stabbed them to the heart. The women 
were sold into slavery, and the house and property of the 
family were destroyed. Since this tragedy, no one among 
the Ohyahts has known how to make the min-okey-ak. 

But enough of these terrible and repulsive scenes ! 
They are atrocities of which it is painful to read, but 
which, nevertheless, should be placed before the reader, in 
order to show to him what savages really are, and how 
blessed are the influences of Christianity and civilization. 
I turn from these harrowing details to a more general 
account of various characteristics of the people, which were 
observed by me during a somewhat lengthened intercourse 
with them. And, first, as to their notions on the subject 
of stealing. 

Stealing. 

Stealing is not sanctioned by public opinion among 
the Ahts, but they all have a tendency to sympathise with 



NOTIONS ABOUT STEALING. 159 

some forms of theft, in which dexterity is required. 
Chiefs and heads of large families very seldom commit 
. theft ; they know the value of a good name, and prefer 
inciting their poor men to the unlawful act. A chief who 
himself steals is a very bad chief indeed. Larceny of a 
fellow-tribesman's property is rarely heard of, and the 
aggravation of taking it from the house or person is almost 
unknown. When the thief and loser are of the same tribe, 
the loser either retaliates, or, by feeing the chief, induces 
him to use his offices in recovering the property. In cases 
of theft from another tribe, the chief of the tribe to which 
the offending native belongs, on receiving a remonstrance, 
either compels him to make restitution, or himself pays 
the value for the honour of his people. On the other 
hand, anything left under an Indian's charge, in reliance 
on his good faith, is perfectly safe ; he takes a pride in 
returning every separate article that was given to him. 
I must not, however, be understood to say that thieving 
from other tribes is unusual among the Ahts ; on the 
contrary, it is a common vice where the property of 
other tribes, or white men, is concerned. But it would 
be unfair to regard thieving among these savages as 
culpable, in the same degree, as among ourselves. They 
cannot understand the considerations on which we desire 
to protect among ourselves the rights of property. Nor 
have they any knowledge of a moral or social law for- 
bidding the act. Thieving, that is, intertribal thieving, 
has been commonly practised among the tribes for many 
generations. In addition to which, we should consider 
how strong the temptation to steal must have become 
when articles of civilized manufacture — curious tools of 



160 AFFECTION FOR CHILDREN. 

iron, saving the wearied arm many months of labour — ■ 
were first introduced to their sight, and left about care- 
lessly before them. I think that discriminating laws should 
be made. It is unjust, and therefore, in the long run, 
useless, to punish the Aht savages according to our law for 
some offence which they do not regard as an offence, and 
which, at all events, is committed under conditions not con- 
templated by the framers of the law. The efficacy of human 
punishments lies, in a great degree, in the public opinion 
concerning them ; and certainly the savages on this coast 
think that our imprisonments and hangings are nothing 
but the arbitrary and harsh exercises of superior power. 
Men whom they think innocent are hanged, and those 
whom they consider guilty often escape. 

Affection for Children. 

I have been pleased often to notice the affection of the 
Indian fathers for their children, and how proud they are 
in remarking any skill in their childish amusements. 
Undoubtedly they have, in general, strong love for their 
relations, most of all for their children. They never beat 
them, and I have known many instances of fathers taking 
home for their children little dainties which it required an 
exercise of self-denial to abstain from. Should they suffer 
the loss of those they love, the women howl and lament ; the 
men nurse their sorrow, and show, by altered demeanour, 
and even loss of flesh and health, their inward affliction. 
At the same time, this love is not connected with thought- 
fulness and care for the sick, who, as is described in a 
chapter of this book, if not neglected, are often treated 
with utter disregard to their comfort. 



SUSPICIOUS NATURE. 101 

Habitual Suspicion. 

Like other wild men, the hand of the Aht Indian has 
been against every man — so far as he has felt it consistent 
with his own safety ; and, as a natural consequence, his 
eye is ever on the watch against the hostility of others. 
His thought, when he comes in contact with any but the 
few who are within the circle of his bosom friends, is, 
" How can I turn this person to my own account, and how 
can I defend myself from his design against me?" For, 
to his credit (as far as it goes), it must be allowed, that 
he does not for a moment believe that he is sacrificing a 
confiding or honest person, but sets down all appearance 
of unguardedness either to folly or simulation. The 
Indian is educated by his necessities, by his fears, and by 
his experience of human nature within the range of his own 
observation. His countenance apparently of studied self- 
command, his watchful concealed glances, his suspicions 
developed upon every occasion, show a character lying, as 
it were, in ambush. The power of self-command possessed 
by savages seems to me to have been over-estimated. It 
is great up to a certain point, both over the countenance 
and over the emotions ; but in reality it is much inferior 
to that of civilized men, though a first acquaintance 
with the stern manner of savages would lead one to 
believe the contrary. When their composure is once 
broken through by the assault of feeling, all their self- 
possession is gone, and they become the sudden slaves 
of fear, anger, or the like. Their nerve, under ordi- 
nary, and perhaps even under extraordinary, circum- 
stances, is naturally strong ; but, when once it gives 

11 



162 MORAL DEFICIENCIES. 

way, they have no adequate counteracting moral power 
to sustain them. 

Want of Foresight. 

I may mention, also, deficiency of foresight as a 
leading and evident component of the moral habit of the 
Aht savages— a deficiency which weakens their virtues, 
and partially palliates many of their vices. The possessor 
of a civilized education and an enlightened conscience 
does not act without bearing in mind, in a general way, 
the probable consequence of his deeds, both to himself 
and others ; in the main, his actions, whether good or 
evil, are deliberate and wilful. But, with the exception 
of following certain inherited habits necessary for very 
existence, the Indian does not appear to exercise to any 
adequate extent his power of reflecting on and acting for 
the future ; impending dangers, and near and sensible 
advantages, of course exercise their influence ; but the 
advantage of acting strenuously for a result which he con- 
siders uncertain, is altogether unrecognised. Even his 
cunning calculations and attempts at deception, most 
clever and complete in themselves, are simple and short- 
sighted, and remind one almost as much of the instincts 
of the animal, as of the exercise of human powers. A In 
this want of inclination and ability to prepare for and 
mould the circumstances of the future, we find, perhaps, 
not so much a characteristic of the people on this coast, 
as a leading cause of the long-continued uncivilized con- 
dition of barbarous nations generally.^. 



MORAL DEFICIENCIES. 163 



Absence of Faith. 



Another great impediment to these natives advancing 
as a people, by ameans very conducive to their progress, — 
that is, by their becoming tillers of the soil, — exists in 
their impatience of delay or any long expectation. If they 
could only learn the lesson of trustfulness and hope taught 
to the farmer by seed-time and harvest, the improvement 
of their moral condition would have begun, probably on a 
good foundation. The almost entire absence of faith and 
hope is, indeed, among these natives a striking and painful 
defect, v They will work hard as long as the goal of their 
efforts is almost, or quite, within sight and as long as they 
have no sort of hesitation as to the adequacy of their 
strength or skill. !i They have no faith in any kind of help 
but their own, and none of the hope which often enables 
civilized men to contend to the last against circumstances, 
and sometimes to pull through against all likelihood. In 
sickness and approaching death, the savage always becomes 
melancholy. The prospect of Chay-her, the land of departed 
spirits, has no comfort or relief for the Aht savage then ; 
the only good thing he has ever felt sure of is the life 
which he is about to part with, and consequently his only 
desire is, to meet with some one who will restore him to 
health. 

Ingratitude. 

Ingratitude is a vice which is commonly attributed to 
these Indians by those who know them well. It is 
unpleasant to have to deny, even to a savage fellow-creature, 
the possession of such a virtue as gratitude, which is shared 

ll— 2 



164 RESERVE OF SAVAGES. 

by many of the inferior animals ; but it must be stated that 
those persons best acquainted with the character of the 
Aht Indians agree in no respect more completely than in 
complaining of their ingratitude. I have concurrent testi- 
mony on this point from Indian agents and traders who 
spoke their language tolerably well, and who have been a 
good deal among them. Their belief is, that you may feed 
a hungry Indian, tend him when sick, or save his life, and 
he will afterwards ridicule or rob you, as if you had never 
been kind to him. The sensibilities of the natives, they 
say, are so rude that what, according to our notions, is 
kindness, does not seem to the savages to demand any 
acknowledgment on their part. 

To this strong general testimony I will not offer a 
decided opposition ; but I think that, generally, civilised 
men are apt to expect too much from a savage, and, being 
disappointed, are ready to deny the good which, perhaps, 
really exists in his nature. As I have said several times 
in this book, it is a most difficult matter, even for observant 
and thoughtful men, to understand the character of a 
savage, or to gain so much of his confidence as to induce 
him to lay aside his habitual reserve. A particular feature 
of the character of the Aht Indian is the manner in which 
he gives or withholds the expression of his affections. 
Great weight is attached to a declaration of friendship, and 
still more, perhaps, to that of sorrow for another's misfor- 
tune or death. Among civilised people, announcements 
of friendship or sympathy are accepted as matters of form, 
and people look for signs of reality in something beyond 
these ordinary expressions. But in the Indian's declara- 
tion of personal feeling, every syllable is weighty ; you are 



NATIVE GRATITUDE. 165 

not supposed for a moment to doubt his word, nor lie to 
be capable of falsifying. Such earnest expressions, it is 
true, may not uniformly be followed by constancy, but, 
at the time they are made, they are generally sincere ; the 
Indian, in such a declaration, lays aside his usual pride and 
caution, and this sacrifice is the pledge of his sincerity. 

The Ahts have, it is true, no word for gratitude, but a 
defect in language does not absolutely imply defect in 
heart ; and the Indian who, in return for a benefit received, 
says, with glistening eyes, that "his heart is good'' 
towards his benefactor, expresses his gratitude quite as well 
perhaps as the Englishman who says, " Thank you." 
The measure of the Indian's gratitude, I think, should be 
taken by more accurate means — by a study of the imme- 
diate working of his heart, so far as one can reach it, and 
from observation of his conduct after gratitude has been 
expressed. Two points of character throw light upon the 
subject. The Indian's suspicion prevents a ready gratitude, 
as he is prone to see, in apparent kindness extended to 
him, some under-current of selfish motive. His reserve 
prevents a frequent expression of gratitude — such expression 
being kept for great occasions. Again, his mind, occupied 
much with the present, and what is immediately useful to 
him, makes him judge another, and treat him according to 
his own interpretation of that other's behaviour, without 
much consideration either of past kindness or past hostility. 
Further, the Indian is not, in general, very grateful for 
assistance which, in his view, costs the giver nothing — 
however useful or necessary the assistance afforded. A 
person may keep an Indian from starving all the winter 
through, yet, when summer comes, very likely he will not 



166 IDEAS OF OBLIGATION. 

walk a yard for his preserver without payment. The savage 
does not, in this instance, recognise any obligation ; but 
thinks that a person who had so much more than he could 
himself consume might well, and without any claim for 
after services, part with some of it for the advantage of 
another in want. This view, considered from an abstract 
point, is true ; still the recipient of kindness, either savage 
or civilised, ought to entertain feelings — strong feelings of 
gratitude towards the benefactor who has thus acted out 
right principles. The savage's judgment is right — his 
feeling is deficient. In justice it must be said that the 
Indian would often similarly succour any one in need of 
his help, and not look for any ulterior benefit. His 
gratitude shines best — and in this he shows his discern- 
ment-— when he thinks that behind the kindly act he can 
discern a really friendly heart. He is accustomed, among 
his own people, to gifts made for purposes of guile, and 
also to presents made merely to show the greatness and 
richness of the giver; but, I imagine, when the Aht 
ceases to suspect such motives — when he does not detect 
pride, craft, or carelessness — he is grateful, and probably 
grateful in proportion to the trouble taken to serve him. 



( 167 ) 



CHAPTEE XVIII. 

SORCERERS. 

Some account of the Sorcerers or " Medicine-men." 



Go to ! 
You are a subtile nation, you physicians. — Ben Jonson. 



There is a class of persons among the Ahts who pretend 
to possess extraordinary powers, and who, without haying 
any tribal rank, are extremely influential. I have not been 
quite able, in my own mind, to assign a position to these 
sorcerers, nor to determine exactly the connection of their 
practices with the religion of the people. I think these 
sorcerers may, in many respects, be called devil-priests; 
that is to say, their influence is supposed to be with those 
spirits which the natives believe to be evil rather than with 
those which they believe to be good. The general practice 
of the people is to address the good deities direct, without 
the agency of the sorcerers ; for instance, standing alone 
in the forest, they pray to the moon for abundance of food 
or for health, or security, but when the powers of evil — the 



168 ART SORCERERS. 

avenging deities, who are supposed to bring misfortune, 
sickness, and famine — have to be propitiated, the natives 
always seek the intervention of the sorcerers. I do not 
say that they never employ the sorcerers in addressing the 
good deities, but only that the influence of these impostors 
is believed to be more efficient with the evil spirits. This 
employment of agents to deal with evil spirits is found 
amongst savage men generally. Of course the savage, as 
every human being, is now by nature an alien to God, and 
the peculiar circumstances surrounding his daily life lead 
to the development of this innate feeling of alienation. 
He discerns faintly the phenomena which produce good 
effects, but sees and feels with terrible distinctness the 
ravages of cruelty, suffering and death ; and being unable 
to conceive that Quawteaht, the beneficent spirit, permits 
such evils to afflict mankind, the savage turns with 
instinctive terror to propitiate the demons by which he 
believes these miseries are inflicted. 

The sorcerers among the Ahts, in their pretensions 
and practices, seem to me to have a greater general 
resemblance to the inferior Lamas in Tartary than to any 
other class of which I have read. The Mongolian belief 
in the transmigration of souls, in the cause of sickness, in 
the power of the Lamas to expel the visiting demon 
Tchutgour (query, the Aht Chay-her,) by incantations and 
yelling ; the duplicity and imposture of the Lamas, and 
their horrible ceremonies, might indeed be almost trans- 
ferred without alteration from M. Hue's narrative to these 
pages. The common doctor of the Ahts is called Ooshtuk-yu, 
the "worker," and the sorcerer Kau-koutsmah-hah, the 
"influence!* of souls." The "worker" and the old 



THE " INFLUENGER OF SOULS." 169 

women act as doctors in ordinary cases, but the " influencer 
of souls " is required in times of great bodily or mental 
trouble, and in fact, on every unusual occasion, whether 
individual or tribal. The sorcerer professes and undertakes 
to bring back truant souls into bodies that have been bereft 
of them ; also to effect interchanges of souls, to interpret 
dreams, to explain prophecies, to cast out demons, and to 
restore the body to health. The sorcerer seldom gains 
tribal rank, but appears to be content with his actual 
power, and with the fees which he extorts from his dupes. 
There is not, so far as I could ascertain, among these 
sorcerers, as there is said to be among those of some other 
savages, any peculiar sorcerers' dialect, or set of terms 
unknown to the rest of the people, in which they can 
converse together on the subject of their professed art, nor 
are their supposed personal gifts dependent on family 
descent. Practically they vary their ceremonies and treat- 
ment to suit their own purposes ; but there must be some 
prescribed rules of action in which the young sorcerers 
are instructed. The sorcerers are obliged, for their own 
sake, to do extraordinary things, or they would soon be 
looked upon as ordinary persons. For some reason they 
have less power among the Ahts than among the tribes 
farther north on the coast of British Columbia ; in several 
tribes known to me there is no Kau-koutsmah-hak, 
(influencer of souls), but only a common Ooshtuk-yu 
(worker). I have seen the sorcerers at work a hundred 
times, but they use so many charms, which appear to me 
ridiculous, — they sing, howl, and gesticulate in so extra- 
vagant a manner, and surround their office with such 
dread and mystery, — that I am quite unable to describe 



170 PRACTICES OF SORCERERS. 

their performances. The ceremonies of the sorcerers 
formed the only phase of savage life — marked as it is 
by repulsive features — which I could not bring my mind 
by any effort to study ; the whole thing was so foolish, 
meaningless, and pretentious. It is undoubtedly a fact, 
however, that many of these sorcerers themselves thoroughly 
believe in their own supernatural powers, and are able, 
in their preparations and practices, to endure excessive 
fatigue, want of food, and intense prolonged mental excite- 
ment. Their practices among the tribes most under their 
influence comprise almost everything which subtle wicked- 
ness can devise for the purpose of terrifying and controlling 
the ignorant. The whole gamut of the most frightful 
noises which the human voice, the collision of hard sub- 
stances, and the beating of bearskin drums can produce, 
is run up and down by them with ease. The howling 
of the Aht sorcerers is perfectly demoniacal ; no wild 
beast could utter sounds so calculated to strike sudden 
terror into the heart. While in perfect security, I have 
shuddered at the yells of these savage men. One of their 
practices is to absent themselves from the encampment 
of the tribe, for a time, to fast in the forest, and suddenly 
to appear, naked and almost fleshless, with lacerated 
bodies, and foam on their lips, uttering cries and sounding 
rattles and drums. Their heads are, on such occasions, 
covered with frightful masks. The natives rise from their 
occupations on seeing the sorcerers approach, and run from 
their presence to seek the shelter of the houses, where 
they cower in silence. Outside, the demons howl, and 
leap through the village ; then, on a sudden, all of them 
make a rush and close together, like wolves over a prey ; 



DECEPTIONS PRACTISED. 171 

sometimes it is a dead human being, or a living dog, which 
is torn asunder by their hands and carried off in their teeth. 
Excepting, perhaps, the human sacrifice at the Klooh- 
quahn-nah season (see pages 155 to 157), which horrid 
custom is supported by these impostors, the devilry just 
described is one of the worst practices of the sorcerers. 
They have milder methods, however, of keeping up their 
influence and filling their boxes ; and having described 
one of their worst ways, I will mention another of a less 
objectionable nature. 

As all the people are credulous, they are easily deceived 
by any shrewd fellow who desires, by some exercise of his 
wits, to obtain increased wealth and higher consideration. 
A clever practitioner, just before the herring, salmon, or 
berry season, will get it spread about that he has dreamt 
there will be great quantities of berries or fish at some 
particular places, the knowledge of which he keeps secret. 
By various ceremonies, such as abstaining from ordinary 
food, washing himself unusually well, and walking in 
lonely places at night, he will manage to persuade the 
ignorant and weak-minded members of his tribe that he 
is doing a great work, that he is inducing the berries to 
grow and the fish to come to be caught. This he will 
make the ground for levying a species of tax; and the 
curious part of it is, that, whether the berries and fish 
are plentiful or not, this " Artful Dodger" gets, not only 
higher social consideration, but douceurs of berries and 
fish throughout the season. I have known him get two- 
thirds of a canoe-load of the fish that were first caught in 
the season. 

Any account of the Aht sorceries would be incomplete 



172 " WISE WOMEN" AND GHOST-SEERS. 

which did not mention the old women, with their coarse 
skins, blear eyes, and shambling gait. 

. . . Dire faces, figures dire 
Sharp-elbowed and lean-ankled too. 

They are generally employed in the care of the sick, but 
also practise the arts of sorcery, in unimportant cases, with 
considerable success. Prophecy is their particular depart- 
ment. They foretel wars, deaths, good seasons, and other 
events bearing on the interests of individuals and of the tribe, 
who, for the information, give them presents. The appari- 
tion of ghosts is especially an occasion on which the services 
of the sorcerers, the old women, and all the friends of the 
ghost-seer are in great request. Owing to the quantity of 
indigestible food eaten by the natives, they often dream 
that they are visited by ghosts. After a supper of blubber, 
followed by one of the long talks about departed friends, 
which take place round the fire, some nervous and timid 
person may fancy, in the night time, that he sees a ghost. 
A child will dream that his deceased parent is standing 
at one end of the house. Waking with a scream, the 
dreamer starts from his couch, and rends his blanket. 
Friends hurry round, rake up the fire, and the old women 
begin to sing. The dreamer snatches feathers from his 
pillow, and eats them, and covers his head with them. 
His nearest relative approaches with a knife, and scores 
the ghost-seer's arms and legs till the blood comes, which 
is received into a dish, and sprinkled on his face, and on 
the part of the house where the spirit seemed to be. This 
scoring the limbs reminded me of the ancient Viking 
practice of marking warriors, on the bed of sickness, with 
the point of a spear. After the operation, the wounds 



TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS. 173 

are dressed with blackberry leaves. If the vision con- 
tinues, the friends throw articles belonging to the dreamer 
on the fire, and cry "more ! more!" till all his property 
(including clothes, mats, and even his boxes,) is heaped 
upon the fire. The greatest excitement prevails, and young- 
girls are often sick and exhausted for many days after such 
an unfortunate dream. 

There are, I think, several beliefs, held formerly by 
the Ahts, originating how or when I shall not conjecture, 
that would materially contribute to assist the sorcerers 
in retaining power — particularly their belief in the trans- 
migration of souls, and in the reality of dreams. I will 
mention first their ideas concerning the transmigration of 
souls. Like other rude Indians, these people have no intel- 
lectual conception of the soul, other than as a being of 
human shape and human mode of acting. They imagine 
that the soul, like the inhabitant of a house, may wander 
forth from the body and return at pleasure. It may pass 
from one man into another, and also enter into the body 
of a brute. Stories are told of men who, going into the 
mountains to seek their " medicine," — which means 
choosing a guardian spirit, on attaining manhood, — have 
associated with wolves, like the Arcadian mentioned in 
Pliny's legend ; and, after a time, body and soul have 
changed into the likeness of these beasts." If the soul has 

* What is called the " medicine " of the natives, is something which 
they seek after arriving at manhood, and which is only to be got by hard 
trial of privation or exposure. The Indian, taking with him neither food 
nor water, and only a single blanket to cover his body, ascends to the 
summit of a high hill not far from the encampment, and there remains for 
several days. He keeps a fire burning to show to the people that he is 
actually at the place. The longer he endures the more efficacious 



174 APPARITIONS OF THE DEAD. 

migrated, and entered any other form or body, and the 
soul of this other form or body does not in turn migrate to 
the one which has been bereft, this latter first becomes 
weak, and then sickens, and finally dies if the soul is not 
brought back. A similar notion (See chapter on " Eeligion ") 
prevails respecting a soul's visit to Chay-her, or the 
inferior world after death. The natives often imagine 
that a bad spirit, which loves to vex and torment, 
takes the place of the truant soul during its absence. 
"What anguish must be endured by these wretched 
creatures when possessed by this idea ! I may acid 
that the souls of dead friends are believed to reappear 
in human shape, or in the form of some beast or bird ; 
and they are generally supposed to presage evil, and 
are regarded with fear. Sometimes, however, it is 
thought they visit the earth with good intentions ; and 
it is the practice of many families, on retiring to rest, 
to place a meal of dried fish and potatoes beside the 
embers of the fire, for the refreshment of such ghostly 
visitors. These notions about the soul, it will be obvious 



" medicine " is he supposed to obtain. As might be supposed of a people 
whose life and thoughts are bound almost within the limits of their bodily 
perceptions, this medicine generally comes through a dream in the form of 
an animal, as a wolf or eagle, when the sufferer's body and mind are 
enfeebled and disordered by hunger and exposure. Occasionally the 
medicine-seeker loses his reason, and wanders about and dies, and he is 
then believed to have gone in further search, and his return to the village 
is looked for month after month. The animal, thus supernaturally revealed 
to the natives as his " medicine," is supposed, throughout his life, to be 
connected with him as only an untrained imagination could conceive or 
explain, and finally, as is believed by some of the natives, to receive into its 
body the Indian after his departure from the earth. A multitude of stories 
concerning the adventures of men who have gone forth to seek their 
" medicine " are told by the natives. 



BELIEF IN DREAMS AND OMENS. 175 

to the reader, would open to the sorcerers a ready path to 
power, after the people's belief in their supernatural influ- 
ence was established. 

The other belief I mentioned, as aiding the sorcerers, 
the belief, namely, in the reality of dreams, is strongly 
held by the natives. The soul, as already said, is sup- 
posed to have the power of leaving the body during sleep, 
and of conversing with distant people, and visiting regions 
and places in remote parts of the world, and in the 
land of spirits. Dreams are regarded by the people, as 
the explanations of the movements of their vagrant 
souls ; also as premonitions from the dead, and, in 
some sense, as intimations from an unknown greater 
power. An unlucky dream will stop a sale, a treaty, a 
fishing, hunting, or war expedition. Dreams are both 
good and bad, but oftener forebode evil than good. Almost 
equal to dreams in importance is the influence of omens. 
An eagle flying near the houses, the appearance of many 
seals, a watery moon, the presence of a white man, are the 
fancied causes of innumerable events ; in fact, hardly a 
day passes in a native house without some fear being 
caused by dreams or omens. All the people live in con- 
stant apprehension of danger from the unseen world. 

No natural exhalation in the sky, 
No common wind, no 'customed event, 
But superstition, from its natural cause, 
Construes awry, and calls them prodigies, 
Signs, fatal presages, and tongues of heaven 
Plainly denouncing vengeance. 



( 1^6 ) 



CHAPTER XIX. 

TRADITIONS. 

An Account of a Few of the Primitive Traditions of the People. 



By sundry recollections of such fall 

From high to low, ascent from loiv to high, — Wordsworth. 



It is extraordinary how many stories the Aht natives have 

to tell about every curious rock, hill, valley, and lake in 

their district. One must have been a long time amongst 

them, and quite possess their confidence, before they will 

speak to him freely on such matters ; but, when assured of 

the listener's character and friendly disposition, there is 

no end to the stories which an old Indian will relate. An 

account of the innumerable original traditions and legends 

current among the Aht people would be very interesting 

and useful ; but the matter is sufficient for a large book, 

and I shall, therefore, content myself with recording a few 

selected traditions, which, I am sure, have not been in any 

way derived from the teaching of priests or travellers.* 

* There is a common story, I may here mention, of an ascent hy a rope 
to a region above the earth ; and a host of other stories which I hardly like 
to leave unrecorded, for such savage myths are, in many respects, interesting 



THE DEITY TOOTOOCH. 177 

How they first came to this Coast. — One of their stories 
is that they came in old times from the west, in numerous 
canoes, and, being caught near the shore by a storm, they 
fastened their canoes to the long kelp. The gale increased, 
and in the morning the canoes were scattered, a few sur- 
vivors being able to land at different points on the coast, 
from whom the present separate tribes are descended. 
This tradition partly agrees with the story also told of two 
Indians having come from an unknown country (see 
chapter on " Eeligion "), on whose approach the various 
creatures fled, and left behind numerous Indians who had 
been contained in their bodies. In plain words, both 
stories mean that a few Indians originally came to the 
coast, and afterwards increased in number. 

Of the great Bird or Deity Tootooch. — Tootooch is a 
mighty supernatural bird dwelling aloft and far away. 
The flap of his wings makes the thunder (Tootah), and 
his tongue is the forked lightning. He is the survivor of 
four great birds which once dwelt in the land of the 
Howchuklisahts in the Alberni Canal, three of which were 
killed by Quawteaht. These mighty creatures fed upon 
whales. Quawteaht one day, desiring to destroy them, 
entered into a great whale, and gradually approached the 
Howchuklis shore, spouting to attract attention. One of 
the birds swooped down upon him and caught him with 

to the student of early history, and probably would illustrate the mental 
peculiarities of a people more satisfactorily than the general description of 
any traveller. It is to be hoped that some account of the primitive 
mythology of all the Indians in Vancouver Island will be published before 
it is much farther intermixed and distorted. The Rev. A. C. Garrett, of 
Victoria, Vancouver Island, and the active and observant traveller, Dr. 
Robert Brown, lately commanding the Vancouver Island Government 
Exploring Expedition, possess extensive information on this subject. 

12 



178 SOURCE OF FIRE. 

his talons, when Quawteaht dashed down to the bottom of 
the water, dragging with him his adversary, who was 
quickly drowned. Another Tootooch, and another, came 
to the attack, only to be served in the same way; and' the 
last remaining one spread his wings and fled to the distant 
height, where he has ever since remained. According to 
Quassoon's tradition, related in this chapter, Quawteaht and 
Tootah— if the same as Tootooch— had once been better 
friends. The natives, I may remark, get confused about 
the gender of many of their divinities. So far as I know, 
the Indians neither worship Tootooch, nor believe that he 
has any great influence over their affairs. I have some- 
times thought that Tootooch was the malevolent spirit 
whose power they fear, as is described in Chapter xxi., but 
I have not been able to satisfy myself on this point. The 
Chinooks and other tribes at the mouth of the Columbia 
river call their evil spirit " Ecutoch," which word somewhat 
resembles Tootooch. 

Hoiv Fire ivas obtained. — Quawteaht made the earth, 
and also all the animals, but had not given them fire, 
which burned only in the dwelling of the cuttle-fish 
(Telhoop), who could live both on land and in the sea. 
All the beasts of the forest went in a body in search of the 
necessary element, (for in those days the beasts required 
fire, having the Indians in their bodies,) which was finally 
discovered and stolen from the house of Telhoop by the 
deer (Moouch), who carried it away, as the natives curiously 
describe it, both by words and signs, in the joint of his 
hind leg. 

The narrators vary slightly in this legend; some 
asserting that the fire was stolen from the cuttle-fish, 



ORIGIN OF THE INDIANS. 179 

others that it was taken from Quawteaht. All agree that 
it was not bestowed as a gift, but was surreptitiously 
obtained. 

Of the Origin of the Indians. — The following account 
of the origin of the people was given to me by Quassoon, 
of the Opechisahts, a famous hunter, but rather a stupid 
man on general subjects. The first Indian wiio ever lived 
was of short stature, with very strong hairy arms and legs, 
and was named Quawteaht. Where he came from was 
never known, but he was the forefather of all the natives 
here. Before his time fishes, birds, and beasts existed in 
the world (this is a most common Indian notion). Quaw- 
teaht killed himself — why the narrator could not say — but 
he lay covered with vermin, when a beneficent spirit, 
Tootah (their word for thunder), in shape a bird, came and 
put the vermin into a box, and Quawteaht revived and 
looked about, but saw no one, as the bird had flown away. 
Bye and bye, the bird returned, and Quawteaht married her, 
and had a son, who was the forefather of all the Indians. 

How the Head of the Alberni Canal came first to he 
Settled by the Ahts. — A very long time ago the Ahts lived 
only on the coast, and never entered the singular inlet known 
as the Alberni Canal already described. At length, three 
adventurous spirits determined to explore the close and 
unknown waters. They started up in their canoe, and the 
first strange phenomenon which struck them was that, as 
they advanced, the mountains closed in upon them, 
shutting off all possibility of return. They went up the 
unknown inlet without meeting with any appearance of 
habitation ; but they noticed fragments of salmon floating 
upon the tide, which seemed to imply that people lived at 

12—2 



180 MIGRATION OF THE AHTS. 

some place further up. When they turned the point 
which brought them close to the head of the inlet, a novel 
prospect burst upon their view. They beheld a most 
admirable dwelling, better, say present narrators, than any 
Englishman's house that was ever built. They touched 
the shore, and entered the house. It was plentifully 
supplied — venison, elk meat, salmon, berries, oysters, and 
clams (the last two they noticed particularly) were there 
in abundance. But what astonished them most was that 
the inhabitants consisted entirely of women. Two of the 
men stayed in the house that night ; the other slept out- 
side, under the trees. In the morning, he was horrified 
to find that his two companions had been killed, and their 
bodies cast out of the house. Making, the best of his way 
back, the mountains opened for his return, and he again 
found himself among his own tribe. He told his story ; 
and now many were eager to go to this land of plenty, and 
desirous also to be revenged on the murderers of their 
friends. They put boards across several canoes (a usual 
practice when they have to carry much with them), and 
went up in a large body. As they turned the final pro- 
montory, all eyes were strained in the direction of the 
beautiful house which had been described to them. 
Instead of the house, they saw nothing. There was no 
house, — not a log nor a board to show that a house had 
ever stood there. There were no women, no inhabitants 
of any sort, and the sea there produced neither oysters 
nor clams. Evidently these weird women had taken their 
houses on their backs, and had flown off to the mountains, 
taking the oysters and clams with them ; and the proof 
of the whole story is that, from that day to this, neither 



HEAD OF THE ALBERNI CANAL. 181 

oysters nor clams are to be found in the head waters of the 
Alberni canal. This, in fact, arises from a fresh-water 
stream entering the inlet at this place, and making the 
water unsuitable for those shell-fish. 

This story, there is little doubt, is founded on fact. 
The exaggerations are just such as might be expected. 
The mountains closing in upon the canoe, and opening 
again for its return, is the narration of men accustomed to 
the open coast, and not to narrow, land-locked waters. 
The beauty of the house at the head of the canal is a 
traveller's wonder, resting upon the evidence of only one 
pair of eyes, and, therefore, exaggerated with impunity. 
In describing the abundant supplies seen in the house, 
and in enumerating them, the surviving Indian would not 
be particular, but would name, probably, every article of 
food which himself and tribe were accustomed to find upon 
the coast. Among these, he would mention oysters and 
clams. It is probable that, when the three Indians arrived, 
the men were out hunting and fishing, and that the house 
presented the appearance of being occupied by women 
only. The husbands, on their return, put to death the 
two men found in the house ; and then the whole tribe 
placed the boards of their house across their canoes, put 
their women and children and moveables upon these, and 
went up the river to one of the lakes, or to some other place 
of security. So readily, by Indian lips, may the marvellous 
be produced. 

Concerning the Loon. — The commonest of all the Aht 
stories about animals and birds is the story which accounts 
for the cry of the loon. Two Indians, a long time ago, 
went out to fish for halibut in different canoes, and one was 



182 THE CRY OF THE LOON. 

successful, but the other did not catch a fish. The fortunate 
fisherman laughed at the other, who got angry, and said to 
himself, " I am stronger, and will take his fish, and make 
him ashamed." Then he thought that his successful com- 
panion had many friends, and that, if he harmed him, 
they would retaliate. While in this mind, his eye caught 
the small wooden club with which the halibut is killed 
before being dragged into the canoe, and with this instru- 
ment, while his companion was pulling up a fish, he 
knocked him on the head. He then took his fish, and 
was going away, when he thought that, to prevent the 
deed being known, he would cut out his companion's 
tongue, so that he should not be able to speak. This 
being clone, he returned alone to the village, and his wife 
took the fish. On being asked by the other man's friends 
where the missing man was, he said, it was some time 
since he had seen him ; but when he last saw him, he had 
no fish : the weather, however, being fine, he would, no 
doubt, be home by-and-bye. While thus speaking, the 
other canoe arrived, and the man's friends went to ask 
how many fish had been caught, to which the mutilated 
fisherman could only reply by making a noise like the cry 
which the loon now utters. The great spirit, Quawteaht, 
was so angry at all this, that he changed the injured 
Indian into a loon, and the other into a crow ; and the 
loon's plaintive cry now is the voice of the fisherman 
trying to make himself understood. How strangely this 
savage story often came back to my mind in crossing the 
wild, silent lakes, where the stillness was unbroken but 
for the melancholy note of the loon ! 

This story is frequently told, and with unusually little 



EBB AND FLOW OF THE SEA. 183 

variation, by the natives along the whole coast ; but they 
cannot explain why both the assailant and his victim were 
punished. 

Of a great Ebb and Flow of the Sea. — Generations 
ago, the Seshahts, who live now during part of the year 
in Nitinaht Sound and the remainder of the year at 
Alberni, were unacquainted with the head of the Alberni 
Canal. They had two houses on Nitinaht Sound, and 
used to migrate from one to the other. 

At that time a most curious phenomenon of nature 
occurred. The tide ebbed away from the shores of the 
Sound and left it dry, and the sea itself retreated a long 
distance. This continued for four days, and the Seshahts 
made light of the occurrence. There was one, however, 
Wispohahp, who, with his two brothers, did not do so. After 
a mature consideration of the circumstance, he thought it 
likely that this ebb would be succeeded by a flood-tide of 
corresponding height and power. Accordingly, he and his 
brothers spent three days in the forest collecting material for 
a rope of cedar inner bark, which, when made, was so large 
as to fill four boxes. There was a rock near the Seshaht 
village, from the base of which sprang a group of bushes, 
of a sort well known for its toughness. Bound these 
bushes Wispohahp fastened one end of his rope, attaching 
the other to his canoe. In his canoe were placed all his 
moveables, his wife, his two brothers, and their wives ; 
and thus prepared they waited for the result. After four 
days the tide began to flow, and crept slowly up to about 
half-way between the point of its furthest ebb and the 
Seshaht houses. At this point, its pace w T as suddenly 
quickened, and it rushed up at fearful speed. The 



184 A GREAT FLOOD. 

Seshahts ran to their canoes. Some begged to be attached 
to Wispohahp's rope ; but to this he would not consent, 
lest it should be broken. Others would have given him 
several of their women ; but he would not receive them. 
They were all soon caught by the rising water ; and while 
Wispohahp rode safely at anchor, the Seshahts, unable to 
resist its force, were drifted in their canoes to distant 
parts. Finally, the water covered the whole country, 
except Quossakt, a high mountain near the Toquahts, 
and Mount Arrowsmith (Cush-cu-chuhl). The Toquahts, 
another tribe living near the Seshahts, got into a large 
canoe (Eher Kleetsoolh), and paddled to the summit of 
Quossakt, where they landed. At the end of four days, 
the flood-tide began to abate. As it did so, Wispohahp 
hauled in his rope, and as the waters descended to their 
usual level, found himself afloat near the site of the 
former Seshaht dwelling. He built himself a small 
house, having two chambers, with a passage in the middle. 
One of the chambers he occupied himself, while the other 
was used by his brothers. 

Some time after a Klah-oh-quaht canoe, manned by 
three Indians, approached the shore where the house was 
situated. One of the three had with him in the canoe a 
quantity of the medicine which they use for making fisher- 
men successful in the capture of the whale. They brought 
their canoe close to the land, and when asked what they 
w T anted, said, that they had come to see Wispohahp's 
house. Wispohahp, after some consideration, invited 
them to land, and, as the Indian manner is when friend- 
ship is intended, helped to pull up their canoes, and 
offered them sleeping accommodation. One of the Klah- 



ORIGIN OF A TRIBE. 185 

oh-quahts, fco show his goodwill, made a present of his 
medicine. After this, "Wispohahp proposed to make him 
chief of their small household. This was finally agreed 
to, and the Klah-oh-quaht took a Toquaht wife — for that 
tribe had returned from Quossakt ; and this is the origin 
of the present tribe of the Seshahts. The Klah-oh-quaht 
who thus became a chief was the great-grandfather of 
Hy-yu-penuel, the present chief of the Seshahts, and the 
friendly terms upon which the Klah-oh-quahts and Seshahts 
live is owing to this circumstance. 



( 186 ) 



CHAPTER XX. 

US AGE 8 IN WARFARE. 

Usages in Warfare — Description by an Eyewitness of an Indian Attack on 
a Village — Admiral Denman's Brush with the Ahousahts. 



Man, only, mars kind nature's plan, 

And turns the fierce pursuit on man. — Sir W. Scott. 

Like a fiend in a cloud 

With howling woe; 
After night I do croud, 

And with night will go. — W. Blake. 



Though the members of an Aht tribe live together in much 
social harmony, there are many wars between separate Aht 
tribes along the coast. The motive for a war is oftener a 
spirit of revenge than a wish to obtain additional property or 
land. As previously observed, a trifling cause, such as an 
unavenged or an imagined affront — offered, it may have been, 
in the time of a preceding generation — is considered a suffi- 
cient pretext for an attack on another unsuspecting tribe. 
Arrangements for war are made secretly, and a declaration 
or notice of the intention to attack is not given. No indi- 
vidual, nor body of persons in a tribe can engage the tribe 



TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. 18? 

in war ; the matter is debated and settled in a full meeting 
of all the members of the tribe. The question never is 
whether the proposed war is just or unjust, but whether 
there is sufficient force, and what are the chances of success. 
If victory is likely to be doubtful without assistance, another 
tribe is invited or compelled to join the attacking force. 
The appointed war-chief of the tribe, who is always chosen 
by the people, and retains his office until displaced in 
popular favour by a more vigorous aspirant, assumes com- 
mand of the party, as a matter of course, in virtue of his 
office. The subordinate military positions in an expedi- 
tion are generally assigned by the people to chieftains of 
acknowledged bravery and skill in war. Attacks are made 
during the night. Notwithstanding their propensity to 
warfare, the Ahts are not remarkable for bravery. They 
seldom meet openly a foe equal in strength, and a slight 
repulse daunts them. If prisoners are taken, they are 
either put to death immediately, or kept as slaves. I never 
heard of an instance of captives being tortured by the Ahts. 
They do not take the scalp of an enemy, but cut off his 
head, by three dexterous movements of the knife, from the 
back of the neck, and the warrior who has taken most 
heads is most praised and feared. | ^The natives do not eat 
human flesh, and deny that the horrid practice existed 
among their forefathers. The presence of so many animals, 
and the abundance of easily caught fish on the coast, fit 
for human food, incline me to disbelieve that the people 
ever were cannibals. I think it probable that the old navi- 
gators too hastily inferred the existence of cannibalism, 
from the dried human hands that were offered to them for 
sale at Nootkah. These may have been trophies, or charms, 



188 MODE OF WARFARE. 

preserved by the natives under some superstitious feeling. 
The Indian interpreter and trader, J. Long, who published 
a book on the North American Indians, in 1791, records, 
as a custom of the Mattaug-wessawauks — a tribe on the 
eastern side of the continent — that, if one of the people 
was killed by accident, they kept a dried and salted hand 
or foot, as a charm to avert calamities. I have also read 
somewhere that, in our own country, during the reign 
of Charles II., and clown to a later time, the hands of 
criminals who had been executed at Newgate were thought 
to be of great efficacy in the cure of diseases and the pre- 
vention of misfortunes. 

I shall probably best convey an idea of the native 
mode of warfare to the reader, by describing an expe- 
dition of the Klah-oh-quahts against the Ky-yoh-quahts, 
a large tribe living on the coast, about eighty miles 
north from Klah-oh-quaht Sound.* A bad feeling had 
existed for some time past between the two tribes, which 
had been fostered by the chief warrior of the Klah-oh- 
quahts — a restless, ambitious man, who was always on 
the look-out for a cause of quarrel. The tribe debated the 
question of peace or war for several months, and at last 
agreed to attack the Ky-yoh-quahts, provided that Shewish, 
the chief of the Moouchahts, which tribe lived between the 
expected belligerents, would join the expedition, with his 
warriors. An envoy was sent to Shewish, in a light canoe, 
to invite his co-operation, and, before leaving on his 
mission, the diplomatist was instructed to use various 
arguments that were likely to be effective. After five days 

* In Commander Mayne's book on Vancouver Island, there is a brief 
erroneous account of this war. 



A WAR EXPEDITION. 189 

had passed, the messenger returned, with the intelligence 
that the Moouchahts would join the Klah-oh-quahts in 
exterminating the Ky-yoh-quahts ; or, at least, in reducing 
them to the position of a tributary tribe. There was imme- 
diately great excitement in the' Klah-oh-quaht village. 
Not an hour was lost in commencing preparations ; the 
war canoes were launched and cleaned, and their bottoms 
scorched with blazing faggots of cedar to smooth them ; 
knives were sharpened ; long-pointed paddles, pikes, and 
muskets were collected; fighting men and captains of 
canoes chosen, who, during the night, washed themselves, 
rubbed their bodies, and went through ceremonies, which, 
they supposed, would shield them from fatigue and wounds. 
In the forenoon of the next day, twenty-two large canoes 
took their departure from Klah-oh-quaht, with from ten to 
fifteen men in each, under the command-in-chief of Seta- 
kanim, the great advocate for the war. Part of the crews 
were natives of small neighbouring tribes dependent on the 
Klah-oh-quahts. The women on the beach, before the canoes 
left, sang a spirited song, and urged the men to be bold, and 
support the honour of the tribe. After proceeding for twenty 
miles through an inner water, the canoes followed the sea- 
board for about the same distance, and reached the village of 
the Hishquayahts — a tributary tribe of the Klah-oh-quahts 
— which had to furnish six canoes, manned. The fatigued 
warriors slept in their canoes that night, and Seta-kanim 
ordered the Hishquayahts to be ready in the morning 
with their contingent. Leaving Hishquay at dawn, on 
a fine morning in June, the whole force, increased 
now to twenty-eight canoes, arrived, during the afternoon, 
at Friendly Cove, Nootkah Sound, near the principal 



190 JOINING THEIR ALLIES. 

village of their allies, the Moouchahts. Before approach- 
ing the village, the canoes were formed into three 
divisions, eight of the largest canoes in the middle 
and ten in each wing division, in which order they pro- 
ceeded slowly towards the shore. As they raised their 
war-song, and stopped now and then to beat time with 
paddles on the gunwales of the canoes, a change could 
be noticed in the appearance of the warriors. The savage 
blood in them was up ; their fingers worked convulsively 
on the paddles, and their eyes glared ferociously from 
blackened faces besmeared with perspiration; altogether 
they were two hundred murderous-looking villains. When 
within fifty yards of the shore, all the canoes, which had 
been going at the rate of six knots at least, came to 
a dead stop, not one of them a foot ahead of another. The 
Moouchahts by this time had come out of their houses, 
and the two parties, according to the native custom, looked 
at each other in silence for a considerable time. At last 
Seta-kanim rose in his canoe to address the people on 
shore. He was a tall muscular savage, with a broad face 
blackened with charred wood, and his hair was tied in 
a knot on the top of his head so that the ends stood 
straight up ; a scarlet blanket was his only dress, belted 
lightly round his loins, and so thrown over one shoulder as 
to leave uncovered his right arm, with which he flourished 
an old dirk. Such a voice as he had ! One could almost 
hear what he said at the distance of a mile. The speech 
or harangue lasted forty minutes, and seemed rather a 
violent address. Strange to say, Seta-kanim spoke to the 
Moouchahts, his allies, not in terms of civility, but 
imperiously as if he were bullying them. Very likely he 



MAPPING ON THE SAND. 191 

ventured to do so from the notion that, as they had gone 
too far now to withdraw from their engagement, he, as the 
leader of the Klah-oh-quahts, might safely assume a tone 
befitting the greatest man in the joint expedition. Only 
a short reply was made by Shewish to the visitor's speech, 
and then all the Klah-oh-quahts landed, and, having drawn 
their canoes above high-water mark, went to the chief's 
house, where they found piles of herring spawn and dried 
salmon collected for a repast. Their hunger being satisfied, 
speaking began ; and one chief after another expressed 
opinions as to the best mode of attacking the Ky-yoh- 
quahts. Finally, on the motion of Seta-kanim, the meeting 
adjourned to a smooth untrodden sandbeach in the neigh- 
bourhood. Here Quartsoppy, a Klah-oh-quaht, whose 
wife was a Ky-yoh-quaht woman, was directed to describe 
on the sand the Island of Ocktees, on which the village of 
the Ky-yoh-quahts was placed. He immediately set to 
work and drew an outline of the island, then showed the 
coves, beaches, tracks ; next the village with the different 
houses, divisions, and sub-divisions — referring now and 
then for confirmation to other natives who also knew T the 
locality. Small raised piles of sand represented houses, 
one of which was Nancie's, the chief of the Ky-yoh-quahts, 
another belonged to Moochinnick, a noted warrior ; others to 
chiefs of inferior repute. Quartsoppy, referring to his draw- 
ing, also showed, or otherwise informed his audience of the 
usual number of men in each division of the camp, their arms 
and supposed ammunition, the characteristics of the prin- 
cipal men, as their youth, age, courage, activity, or strength. 
All this time the warriors of the two tribes and the 
Hishquayaht tributaries stood round the delineator in 



192 PLAN OF ATTACK. 

a large circle, and qestions were asked and eager con- 
versation held. After several speeches had been made, a 
general plan of attack proposed by Seta-kanim was adopted : 
fifteen Klah-oh-quaht canoes were to form the centre ; 
the Moouchats, with fourteen canoes and one hundred and 
fifty men, to attack from the right ; and seven Klah-oh- 
quaht canoes, with the Hishquayaht auxiliaries, to compose 
the left attack — the whole force to approach secretly, and 
to land and advance at one time, and a man from each 
canoe to be detached to set fire to the enemy's houses 
with matches and prepared gumsticks. This general plan 
being adopted, the two tribes, Klah-oh-quahts and Moou- 
chahts, separated for the purpose of arranging the details 
of their respective duties ; for instance, Seta-kanim for his 
people assigned to subordinate chiefs their positions in the 
attack, according to his own knowledge of their capabilities 
and according to Quartsoppy's information as to whom 
they might meet. Notwithstanding his influence, how- 
ever, a violent dispute arose between two of his best men 
as to who should attack the lodge of the famous chief 
Moochinnick, and the rivals would have come to blows 
but for the interposition of several old men. Towards 
nightfall, when every preparation was completed, both 
parties of the natives returned from the sandbeach to the 
village, and ate another meal, after which criers went 
round to notify that the starting hour would be at early 
dawn. The weather continued fine, and before sunrise on 
the appointed day, the Klah-oh-quahts started in their 
canoes in the same order in which they had entered the 
bay, working their paddles to the beating of a drum and 
the shouting of a war song. Their allies, the Moouchahts, 



ASSAULT ON A VILLAGE. 193 

under the command of their war-chief, Nisshenel, a 
man of gigantic stature, followed at a distance of two 
hundred yards, in two divisions, each of seven canoes. 
Crossing Nootkah Sound, the expedition came out on the 
seaboard, after three hours' paddling ; and now precautions 
were taken to prevent discovery of their approach. Orders 
were issued that the canoes should form a single line, and 
keep within paddle's-length of the rocks. During the fore- 
noon the small village of another Aht tribe, the Ayhuttisahts, 
was reached, and the warriors landed and re-blackened their 
faces. The coming night was the night of the attack. 
Having proceeded all day cautiously in a single line, 
winding close round the rocks like a great sea-serpent, 
the canoes succeeded, just after nightfall, in reaching 
undiscovered, a deep cove within two miles of the Island 
of Ocktees, where the Ky-yoh-quaht village was. The 
men now rested on their paddles until midnight without 
speaking a word. There was no moon, and though the 
stars were bright, the haze on the water and the deep 
shadow of the forest favoured their approach. The hour 
at last came ; the canoes, urged forward by long stealthy 
strokes, hurried on their fearful errand, and the line of the 
Ky-yoh-quaht village, extending in a curve round the 
head of an indentation, was soon seen. 

Four hundred well-armed savages, under their own 
leaders, and with a concerted plan of attack, sprang on the 
beach, and rushed towards the village. Fortunately, a 
minute sooner, as afterwards appeared, two stray Ky-yoh- 
quahts, coming from the north, had reached the landing- 
place, and were carrying their blankets and paddles towards 
the houses, when the hostile canoes emerged from the fog 

13 



194 THE ASSAILANTS REPULSED. 

and swept rapidly towards the shore. "Weena! weena! 
strangers! danger! danger ! " resounded through the air 
before the canoes touched the beach, and the cry was 
answered instinctively by a hundred half-waked sleepers, 
' Weena ! weena ! Klah-oh-quaht ! Moouchaht ! Weena ! " 
and already the crack of muskets and the noise of running 
and shuffling within the houses were heard. The torches 
and the blaze from several houses that had been set on 
fire now r lighted up the front. The Ky-yoh-quahts had 
retreated into the house of their chief, which they had 
barricaded with boxes and loose planks, and they kept up 
a quick but not destructive fire on the assailants. Seta- 
kanim, with the two bearers of his muskets and the party 
under his immediate command, was well forward in the 
centre. The canoemen on the left were inside the Ky-yoh- 
quaht houses, and were killing the inmates, and had set 
several houses on fire ; stragglers, shouting and gesticu- 
lating, but evidently not relishing the fight, were between 
the advanced parties and the shore, and a large body of 
Moouchahts was collected near their canoes on the beach, 
as if they had fallen back immediately after the first rush. 
The attack was a failure ; that could be seen at a glance. 
Still, for ten or fifteen minutes the fight continued, both 
where the Klah-oh-quahts tried to enter the chiefs house 
in the front, and also inside the houses which the canoe- 
men on the left had attacked. By-and-by the fires became 
duller, and what went on could not be so well seen. Batches 
of excited savages came towards the canoes, and shouted 
and fired their muskets into the air ; finally, Seta-kanim, 
who had fought in the front, out of cover the whole time, 
finding himself left with about a dozen men, retired 



RESULTS OF FAILURE. 195 

sullenly to the shore. The enemy did not follow, and the 
discomfited assailants paddled away in confusion; Klah- 
oh-quaht and Moouchaht canoes mixed together, and every 
warrior in a savage humour. The confidence of the advance 
was changed now in the retreat to fear and suspicion. 
Passing Ayhuttis, Hishquay, and Nootkah, the Klah-oh- 
quahts reached their own village two days after the fight, 
and, as they did not raise on their approach the victorious 
song, all the women met them with loud lamentations. 
They brought in the canoes thirty-five Ky-yoh-quaht 
heads, and thirteen slaves, chiefly taken by the canoe-men 
on the left of the attack ; and this detachment, and the party 
under Seta-kanim, had lost altogether eleven men killed 
and seventeen wounded. The heads were placed on poles 
in front of the village, and the spoil taken from the Ky-yoh- 
quahts was apportioned to the captors. The distinction 
of a change of name, denoting some act of daring, was 
awarded to a few who had been forward in the attack. 

The result of this war expedition was not satisfactory to 
the Klah-oh-quahts, who had looked forward to the extermi- 
nation of their powerful rivals, instead of which they had 
been repulsed with loss ; and, having offended the Moouch- 
ahts by reproaching them as the cause of failure, the 
Klah-oh-quahts were now apprehensive that the Ky-yoh- 
quahts and Moouchahts would unite against them. Their 
fears increased daily, till every one in the camp was in a 
feverish and unhappy state of mind. No one could sleep 
without expecting to be waked by a knife in his throat. 
Winter, too, was at hand, and the stock of provisions low ; 
yet it was thought necessary to stop all trade to the north 
in the direction of the Ky-yoh-quahts. Few Klah-oh- 

13—2 



196 WAR- CHIEF IN DISGRACE. 

quaht canoes would venture half a mile from the shore to 
fish. A large stockade with only one gate was built, and 
the whole tribe lived within the enclosure. The night was 
divided into two watches, and sentinels were posted. False 
alarms, devised on purpose by the chiefs, exercised the 
people in defending the camp. Such a state of matters 
soon produced discontent, and turned the anger of his own 
tribe against Seta-kanim, whose restlessness had caused 
the war. So strong a feeling was manifested against this 
chief that he shut himself up in his house for more than 
three months, and did not once venture out of doors for 
fear of being shot ; and it was only by thus keeping out of 
sight, and by giving all his property away as presents, that 
he managed to escape without further punishment. Many 
wars, and a train of calamities to all the tribes concerned, 
followed this untoward attack upon the Ky-yoh-quahts. 

To illustrate the bearing of the Aht natives in presence 
of a superior force of white men — whose random shooting 
with great guns, and practice of attacking by daylight, 
they ridicule as contrary to correct notions of warfare — I 
give here an extract from a despatch of Bear-Admiral 
Denman, dated on board the frigate Sutlej, in Klah-oh- 
quaht Sound, the 11th October, 1864, and addressed to 
the Governor of Vancouver Island. A trading schooner, 
the Kingfisher, had been decoyed near the shore by 
Cap-chah, an Ahousaht chief, who told the captain that he 
had a quantity of oil to dispose of. Cap-chah killed the 
captain, and two other Ahousahts killed the sailor who 
was on board, as well as a Quoquoulth Indian, who was 
one of the crew. The bodies, after being cut open, were 
thrown into the sea, and the schooner was plundered and 



MURDERERS OF BRITONS DEMANDED. 197 

burned. Admiral Dennian's object in visiting Klah-oh- 
quaht Sound with H.M.S. Sutlej, was to demand delivery 
of the murderers ; and, on arriving at the Sound, he found 
that H.M.S. Devastation had preceded him, according to 
orders. The following extracts from the official despatch 
describe the further steps that were taken to punish the 
Ahousahts for refusing to deliver the chief Cap-chah: — 

"Finding Matilda Creek and Bawden Bay deserted by 
the natives, I proceeded up the North Arm to a village 
called 'Sik-tok-kis, on the right bank, and sent Mr. Hankin 
with the Indian interpreter Friday, alias Thomas Bobert, 
on shore in a canoe to endeavour to open communication 
with the natives, and to demand that the twelve principals 
in the murder and piracy of the Kingfisher should be 
given up. 

" No natives would answer them, though they were 
heard talking in the bush ; but after some time one Indian 
came down to speak with Mr. Hankin, who, desiring Friday 
to keep him in conversation, ran to the beach, and calling 
up four of the covering boat's crew, seized him and brought 
him on board. 

" The man seized acknowledged to having been on 
board the Kingfisher at the time of the murder, and has 
afforded much valuable information. I enclose a copy of 
his deposition. 

" At the same time I had sent the Devastation to 
Herbert Arm, where all communication was refused, and a 
large body of Indians in their fighting paint fired upon the 
boat and ship. In conformity with my orders Commander 
Pike confined himself to self-defence, and returned to report 
proceedings. 



198 DEFIANCE OF THE NATIVES. 

"From the information obtained from the captured 
Indian, I found that three of the actual murderers were at 
Moo-yah-kah in Herbert Arm, who had fired on the Devas- 
tation ; that Cap-chah, the chief of the tribe, and the 
murderer of the captain, resided at Trout River, in Cypress 
Bay, or in Bedwell Arm, both of which belonged to him. 
That Sik-tok-kis was the residence of Ayah-kahchitl, and 
that others, parties to the crime, were to be found at 
Obstruction Inlet, and at two villages at the head of 
Shelter Arm. 

" On the 3rd, I proceeded up Herbert Arm to Moo-yah- 
kah, and sent the Devastation to Sik-tok-kis, Obstruction 
Inlet, and Shelter Arm, with orders to destroy the canoes, 
houses, &c, but not to fire on the natives unless resistance 
were offered. Commander Pike was not able to find the 
village in Destruction Inlet, but he destroyed Sik-tok-kis 
and those in Shelter Arm, and found in each of them 
letters, accounts, and other property belonging to the 
Kingfisher. 

"I sent Friday into Moo-yah-kah under the ship's 
guns. A number of Indians came down and held a palaver 
with him on the beach ; he told them that I promised not 
to fire on them if they delivered up to me all the men con- 
cerned in the affair of the Kingfisher, three of whom I 
knew were there. Friday, on his return, brought a message 
from the Indians saying, that if I wanted the men I might 
come and take them, if I destroyed the village they would 
soon build it up again, and that if I attempted to touch 
the canoes they would shoot every man who came near the 
shore. 

"I then ordered a heavy fire to be opened on the 



DESTRUCTION OF NATIVE VILLAGES. 199 

village, and on the surrounding bush, to clear it, and sent 
in the gigs to complete the destruction of the village 
under cover of the ship's guns, and those of the heavy 
boats. 

"Notwithstanding these precautions, several musket 
shots were fired at the boats, but were instantly silenced 
by the boats' guns, which replied to them with admirable 
precision. 

" Having brought away twelve canoes, I returned to 
Matilda Creek, where the crime had been perpetrated, and 
the Kingfisher sunk, and next day I ordered the remains of 
the village, which had been abandoned and dismantled, to 
be fired. 

" The Devastation had, on the 5th, been ordered to 
destroy the villages of Cap-chah, in Cypress Bay and 
Bedwell Arm, and to bring away his canoes ; the boats 
were fired on, and Cap-chah himself was seen at the head 
of his men in Cypress Bay, dressed in one of the blue 
jackets which had formed a part of the Kingfisher's 
cargo. 

" Finding that all these measures had failed to bring 
the Ahousahts to terms, I was obliged to strike a yet more 
severe blow, directed against Cap-chah himself in such a 
manner as to impress the Indians more deeply with the 
idea of our power, and with the impossibility of escaping 
punishment due for such atrocities against unoffending 
w T hite traders. 

" On the morning of the 7th October, forty seamen, and 
thirty marines, with one Ahousaht and six Klah-oh-quaht 
Indians, to act as guides, were landed at White Pine Cove 
in Herbert Arm, under the command of Lieutenant Stewart, 



200 DEFEAT OF THE NATIVES. 

the senior lieutenant of this ship. Lieutenant Stewart 
was ordered to march across the trail to Trout Eiver (about 
three miles), and to endeavour to seize Cap-chah and any 
of his people. 

" The Ahousahts were completely taken by surprise, 
and they must have been all captured in the temporary 
huts which they had constructed in the bush, had not the 
alarm been given by the barking of a dog when our party 
was within a few yards of them. The Indians had barely 
time to rush into the thick cover, from whence they opened 
a heavy fire upon our men, which was returned with such 
effect, that in a few moments they took flight, leaving ten 
men dead. Cap-chah himself, who did not fight, was 
wounded in two places as he ran away. 

" The success of this affair is due to the excellent 
conduct of Lieutenant Stewart, and the officers and sea- 
men and marines under his command, while the defeat of 
the Ahousahts by an attack after their own fashion, has 
produced profound alarm and astonishment. 

" Cap-chah is in hiding, and his people, having 
abandoned all idea of resistance, look upon him as respon- 
sible for all the calamities which have befallen them. He 
has effected his escape to Moo-yah-yah, and I am now on 
my way to Herbert Arm with a party of his own people 
aboard to promulgate the terms which I have demanded to 
obtain the person of Cap-chah and others actually concerned 
in the murder. 

" In consideration of the severe punishment which has 
been inflicted on the Ahousahts, I have now limited my 
demand to the delivery up to me of Cap-chah and the six 
persons who took part in the murder, although the cargo 



BOAST OF THE AHOUSAHTS. 201 

and effects of the Kingfisher we have found in every place 
destroyed, prove how very extensively the tribe at large was 
implicated in the piracy. 

"It is with great pleasure that I inform you that the 
service, in which sixty-nine canoes have been destroyed, 
and about fifteen men killed, has been performed without 
the slightest injury on our side. 

" I hope soon to return to Esquimalt with some of the 
murderers on board, and I have promised that no further 
measures shall be adopted against the Ahousahts for one 
month from this time ; but if the six murderers are not 
given up by that time, I shall be obliged to order forcible 
measures to be resumed." 

Having had several Ahousahts in my employment 
subsequently to this attack by the ships, I learnt from 
them that the destruction of their canoes was felt as a 
misfortune, but the loss, as they described it, of half a 
war-canoe of men, was thought to be of no consequence 
whatever. The want of canoes prevented them from 
obtaining and laying in a store of their usual food for the 
winter, and the tribe consequently dispersed and lived 
among other friendly tribes, until the fishing season com- 
menced in the spring. During the winter they were busy 
preparing new canoes, and it was expected that they would 
be pretty well supplied with them before the autumn of 
1865. For some reason the ships of war did not return 
at the end of the month's grace allowed by Admiral 
Denman for the delivery of Cap-chah, nor at any later 
time ; consequently the Ahousahts now believe that they 
gained a victory over the ships, and, in consideration of 
such a triumph, all the trouble of making new canoes has 



202 SAVAGE NOTIONS OF EUROPEANS. 

been forgotten. Cap-chah has added to his reputation ; 
he is the great chief who defied and baffled the English or 
King- George war- vessels. Owing to the curious distinc- 
tion drawn by the natives between the crews of the Queen's 
ships on the one hand, and the great King George tribe 
on the other, — believing the people in the ships to be a 
separate tribe by themselves — my Ahousaht informants 
told these particulars to me as if I were an indifferent 
person, and the affair had been, not between them and my 
own countrymen, but between the Ahousahts and some 
other tribe. The extent and composition of a great society 
of civilized men are beyond their comprehension. 



( 203 ) 



CHAPTEK XXI. 
RE LIGIOUS PRACTICES. 

The Religious Practices of the Ahts. 



Rather with the Rechabites we will live in tents of conjecture, 

Fullek. 



No subject connected with the people could possess a more 
general interest than that of their religion, but it is one as 
to which a traveller might easily form erroneous opinions, 
owing to the practical difficulty, even to one skilled in the 
language, of ascertaining the true nature of their super- 
stitions. This short chapter is the result of more than 
four years' inquiry, made unremittingly under favourable 
circumstances. There is a constant temptation — from 
which the unbiassed observer cannot be quite free — to fill 
up in one's mind, without proper material, the gap between 
what is known of the religion of the natives for certain, 
and the larger less-known portion which can only be 
guessed at ; and I frequently found that, under this 
temptation, I was led on to form, in my own mind, a con- 
nected whole, designed to coincide with some ingenious 
theory which I wished might be true. 



204 RELIGION OF SAVAGES. 

Generally speaking, it is necessary, I think, to view 
with suspicion any very regular account given by travellers 
of the religion of savages ; their real religious notions 
cannot be separated from the vague and unformed, as well 
as bestial and grotesque mythology with which they are 
intermixed. The faint, struggling efforts of our natures in 
so early, or so little advanced a stage of moral and intellec- 
tual cultivation, can produce only a medley of opinions and 
beliefs — not to be dignified by the epithet religious — which 
are held loosely by the people themselves, and are neither 
very easily discovered nor explained. In a higher stage, 
accurate systematizing, in a more or less acceptable and 
reasonable form, of the undefined notions which frequently 
accompany and form a part of human appreciation respect- 
ing objects supposed to be more than human, is the work, 
not of barbarous, but of intellectual and civilised minds. 
Eeligious system, in its highest character and plan, has, 
in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, been 
embodied in these divine revelations to mankind. I refer 
to the three eras of the savage — the civilised, the heathen, 
and the savage. 

In speaking of the religion of the Ahts, I use the 
word simply for want of any other ; w r hat I refer to is 
among them rather a certain form of worship or propitia- 
tion of deities according to old usages, and not, of course, 
a system of religion in our sense of the word, containing a 
body of moral and spiritual truths. No attempt is made 
by any class of priests, nor by the older men, to teach 
religion to the people, — there are no doctrines of religion 
in which they could instruct the people. If the sorcerers 
are considered to constitute a priestly class, all that they 



RELIGIOUS NOTIONS OF THE ARTS. 205 

do in the way of teaching is to introduce to a knowledge 
of ceremonies and usages the youths who are destined to 
be their successors. 

I can say thus much of the religion of the Aht Indians, 
that it clearly is an influential power among them, and 
extensively governs their affairs. 

The people are extremely unwilling to speak of what 
is mysterious, or akin to the spiritual in their ideas ; 
not, it appears, from a sense of the sacredness of the 
ideas, but from a notion that evil will result from any 
free communication on such subjects with foreigners. 
Even after long acquaintance, it is only now and then, 
when " i' the vein," that the sullen, suspicious natures of 
these people will relax, and permit them to open a corner 
of their minds to a foreigner who possesses their con- 
fidence.* They generally begin by saying that no white 

* / was two years among the Ahts, with my mind constantly directed 
towards the subject of their religious beliefs, before I could discover that 
they possessed any ideas as to an overruling power or a future state of 
existence. The traders on the coast, and other persons well acquainted 
with the people, told me that they had no such ideas, and this opinion was 
confirmed by conversation with many of the less intelligent savages ; but 
at last I succeeded in getting a satisfactory clue to such information as 
this chapter contains. Is it not possible that many otherwise observant 
travellers have too hastily assumed, after living a few months among 
savages, that they had no religion ? It is no easy attainment to know the 
language of savages conversationally ; and to get their confidence — particu- 
larly the confidence of the intelligent Indians — is a still more difficult task. 
A traveller must have lived for years among savages, really as one of them- 
selves, before his opinion as to their mental and spiritual condition is of 
any value at all. The fondness of the Ahts for mystification, and the number 
of " sells " which they practise on a painstaking inquirer going about with 
note-book in hand, are unexpected and extraordinary on the part of savages 
whom we regard as so mean in intelligence. They will give a wrono: 
meaning intentionally to a word, and afterwards, if you use it, will laugh at 
you, and enjoy the joke greatly among themselves. 



206 WORSHIP OF SUN AND MOON. 

man is able to understand the mysteries of which they will 
speak. " You know nothing about such things; only old 
Indians can appreciate them," is a common remark. And 
in nine cases out of ten, so many lies and mis-statements 
are mixed up with the account, either directly for the 
purpose of mystifying the inquirer, or owing to the 
unenlightened confusion of the savage in thinking upon 
religious subjects, that little reliance can be placed upon 
it. Also, the opinions expressed by some of the natives 
are found, on examination, to differ on so many points 
from those of others, that it is hardly possible to ascer- 
tain the prevailing opinions of any tribe. Still, speaking 
of the tribes of the Ahts together, as a nation, I have satis- 
fied myself as to one or two facts in connection with their 
religion. They undoubtedly worship the sun and the moon, 
particularly the full moon (hoop-palh), and the sun (nas), 
while ascending to the zenith. Like the Teutons, they 
regard the moon as the husband, and the sun as the wife ; 
hence their prayers are more generally addressed to the 
moon, as being the superior deity. The moon is the 
highest of all the objects of their worship ; and they 
describe the moon — I quote the words of my Indian 
informant — " as looking down upon the earth in answer 
to prayer, and as seeing everybody.' ' The great Quawteaht 
himself, who made everything, and who first taught the 
people to address the moon and the sun in times of need, 
is, in their estimation, an inferior divinity to both these 
luminaries. 

Prayer is common among the Aht natives — among 
men, women, and children. There is a word in their lan- 
guage, queel-queel-ha, meaning " to pray," also klah-quay, 



PRAYERS. 207 

" to beseech; " these words are more urgent words than 
na-7iash "to beg, or ask for," or than ah-ah-toh, which 
means simply "to ask." I could not find that they have 
any, as it were, recognized chief worshipper, or any class 
of priests, except the sorcerers, but I have noticed that 
the prayers of old men are thought to be specially effi- 
cacious. For different wants the Ahts have different 
modes of prayer. When working at the settlement at 
Alberni, in gangs by moonlight, individuals have been 
observed to look up to the moon, blow a breath, and 
utter quickly the word TeechI teechf — their word for 
"health" or "life." This opinion of the moon's power 
over human affairs is wide-spread. I remember that we 
boys at school in Scotland used to turn over the money in 
our pockets for luck on the appearance of a new moon. 
Teechf teechf "life! life!" this is the great wish of 
these people's hearts — even such a miserable life as their 
life seems to a civilized observer. So true is it that 

The weariest and most loathed worldly life 
That age, ache, penury, and imprisonment 
Can lay on nature, is a paradise 
To what we fear of death. 

" Teechf teechf" is their common and almost constant 
prayer. On one occasion the tribe of Seshahts, at Alberni, 
being dissatisfied with a friend of mine — the late Mr. 
George Reid, from Fraserburgh, Scotland, who was also 
one of the best friends the natives ever had * — resolved to 

* George Eeid was originally a working cooper in my service, hut was 
promoted to the position of superintendent of Indian affairs *at Alberni. 
He died in Victoria in October, 1865, at the early age of thirty-nine. I 
esteem it a privilege, and valuable lesson, to have known one who was so 
remarkable, intellectually and morally, who was so modest, manly, and good — 



208 MODES OF PRAYING. 

kill him ; but their design was betrayed to us by a friendly 
native, who, on disclosing his danger to the intended 
victim, urged him to pray to the new moon for life, and 
he would be secure. 

The usual manner of praying is for the suppliant to 
retire alone into the woods, if possible, near to a running 
stream, and having rubbed his face with a prickly bush, 
he lays aside his blanket, stands erect naked, with ex- 
tended arms, and looks towards the moon. Set words and 
gestures are used, according to the thing desired ; for 
instance, in praying for salmon, the native rubs the backs 
of his hands, looks upwards, and utters the words "Many 
salmon, many salmon ; " if he wishes for deer, he carefully 
rubs both eyes ; or if it is geese, he rubs the back of his 
shoulder, uttering always, in a sing-song way, the accus- 
tomed formula. Bears are prayed for only during the last 
moon, before the snow appears ; and it is usual for the 
suppliant, in praying for bears, to rub his sides and legs 
vigorously with both hands, and to wear round his head a 
piece of red blanket, adorned with feathers. All these 
practices in prayer no doubt have a meaning ; for instance, 



ill every respect so fine a pattern of what a man ought to be. Many hundreds, 
now scattered here and there, of all nations, who also knew him, and were 
his friends, would repeat my words without envy or grudging, and would 
acknowledge, that among all of us at the settlement, Eeid's character was 
the type which showed to the savages the high civilization our countrymen 
had reached in comparison with themselves. The savages saw amongst us 
a man, not of the church, not set apart, but a man hard at work all day like 
other labourers ; and this man, having authority over them, was in all things 
just and sternly consistent ; was patient of their talk ; seldom answered 
without a smile. Yet they could not natter nor outwit him. They could 
understand an ordinary white man's impatience, selfishness, and partiality ; 
but this Christian life was a mystery to them. 



QUAWTEAHT. 209 

in reference to tile above-named practices, we may see that 
a steady hand is needed in throwing the salmon spear, and 
clear eyesight in finding deer in the forest. 

So far as I know, the Aht Indians do not possess the 
knowledge of one supreme and beneficent Being ; but there 
are indications, as before said, in some of their legends and 
usages of a belief in a superior Being, not acknowledged 
distinctly as good or bad, which presides over their destinies. 
This great Being is known to all the Aht tribes by the 
name of Quawteaht, and if there is any clear conception 
of him in the minds of the people, I should say that he is 
generally regarded as a good divinity. There is a large 
body of floating tradition among them as to Quawteaht, 
which appears, however, to be very confusedly held, and 
is certainly very differently related by different Indians. 
Quawteaht is not a local or tribal deity, but is known in 
every village. Perhaps the most prevailing notion is that 
he is the chief of an extensive and beautiful country, 
situated somewhere in the sky, though not directly over 
the earth, in which everything is found that the savage 
mind can conceive as ministering to man's sensual comfort 
and satisfaction. Everything there is beautiful and abun- 
dant. There a continual calm prevails, and the canoes 
float lightly on the sleeping waters ; frost does not bind 
the rivers, and the snow never spreads its white blanket 
over the ground. In this pleasant country, where there 
is continual sunshine, and warmth, and gladness, it is 
believed that the high chiefs, and those natives who have 
been slain in battle on the earth, find their repose ; the 
chiefs living in a large house as the guests of Quawteaht, 
and the slain in battle living by themselves in another 

14 



210 AHT LEGEND OF QUAWTEAHT. 

house. No Indians of a common degree go to the land of 
Quawteaht ; like Odin, he drives away the pauper and the 
bondsman from the doors of Valhalla. 

My first idea was that the Aht legend of Quawteaht 
might have reference to some superior chief or white man 
among themselves, who had in former times been a bene- 
factor, and who had left the memory of his genius and 
goodness behind him. I now feel comparatively sure that 
they look upon Quawteaht as an entirely supernatural 
being, although, of course, their idea of him is a material 
one. He is undoubtedly represented as the general framer 
— I do not say Creator — of all things, though some special 
things are excepted. He made the earth and water, the 
trees and rocks, and all the animals. Some say that 
Quawteaht made the sun and moon, but the majority of 
the Indians believe that he had nothing to do with their 
formation, and that they are deities superior to himself, 
though more distant and less active. He gave names to 
everything, among the rest to all the Indian houses which 
then existed, although inhabited only by birds and animals. 
Quawteaht went away before the apparent change of the 
birds and beasts into Indians, which took place in the 
following manner : — 

The birds and beasts of old had the spirits of the 
Indians dwelling in them, and occupied the various coast 
villages, as the Ahts do at present. One day a canoe 
manned by two Indians from an unknown country, 
approached the shore. As they coasted along, at each 
house at which they landed, the deer, bear, elk, and other 
brute inhabitants, fled to the mountains, and the geese 
and other birds flew to the woods and rivers. But in this 



EVIL SPIRIT OF THE AHTS. 211 

flight, the Indians, who had hitherto been contained in 
the bodies of the various creatures, were left behind ; and 
from that time they took possession of the deserted dwell- 
ings, and assumed the condition in which we now see 
them. I may remark that Quawteaht, in the widely spread 
and apparently primitive Aht tradition of the Loon, (see 
Traditions), is represented as knowing — as a matter of 
course, yet evidently only as an all-seeing divinity could 
know — the particulars of the dispute between the two fisher- 
men ; and it is further stated in the tradition that Quawteaht 
inflicted punishment upon the offender. This shows that 
Quawteaht occasionally becomes displeased; but whether 
they consider this divinity, when in an angry mood, 
as their evil spirit, or whether their evil spirit is an 
entirely separate being, I do not know; it may perhaps 
be Tootooch, (see Chapter XIX.). Certain it is that 
the Aht people believe in a malevolent power of some 
sort, which frightens the salmon and deer, sends dreadful 
storms, overturns canoes, and brings sickness and death. 
I could never get any clear notion as to who this destruc- 
tive being was. Sometimes the Indians relate that this 
being is Quawteaht enraged ; at other times Tootooch ; 
then Chay-her, which latter, as will be seen farther on, 
is a personification of death, and the name also of the 
inferior of the two worlds after death. Neither Quaw- 
teaht nor the evil spirit, whether Quawteaht or not, 
is acknowledged by the natives, so far as I could 
discover, in any private and, so to speak, bodily form 
of worship, such as is offered to the sun and moon. 
Each deity, however, is supposed to have minor spirits 
connected in some way with itself, which the people 

14—2 



212 GOOD AND EVIL DEITIES. 

frequently symbolise and represent under the form of 
different creatures ; and those of a benign character are 
believed to have the power, if not of shielding, at least of 
making things lucky for, the individual who trusts in them. 
The evil spirits, on the other hand, are regarded with 
fear, especially if they have been the subjects of a dream ; 
and a very large part, indeed, of the superstitious practice 
of the Ahts consists in efforts to deprecate the wrath of 
these avenging deities. This propitiation or devil-worship 
is carried on by the assistance of a class of devil-priests 
or sorcerers, commonly called "medicine men," and is 
accompanied by many foolish ceremonies, by atrocities 
and revolting festivals. Some account of the medicine men 
has been given in a previous chapter. I do not think that 
the belief in the existence of these two opposing powers, 
the good and the evil god, is in any way derived by the 
people on this coast from the teaching of missionaries : it is 
probably the old belief which has been everywhere observed 
to be a characteristic of heathenism. Perhaps the com- 
monest notion among the Ahts is that, in a former state 
— as illustrated by the legend of Quawteaht just mentioned 
— they existed in the form of birds, animals, or fishes. 
This opinion respecting transmigration, or transformation, 
mixed up with much that is ludicrous and grotesque, 
probably would have been the chief characteristic of the 
religious system that would have arisen among the natives 
in the course of time, had they advanced intellectually 
without any contact with Christianity. Some of them 
believe that, after death, they will again pass into the 
bodies of the animals which they occupied in a former 
state; but others have a better notion, that their souls 



GRAY -HER. 213 

will go to the land of Quawteaht or to Chay-her, which 
latter is the land of departed spirits for all except the 
chiefs and the slain in battle — a place described as situated 
deep down under the earth. Few of the religious beliefs 
of the Ahts are connected with heaven and the sky : their 
thoughts of the regions above are confined to Quawteaht' s 
land, and to the fact that the spirit Tootooch (see " Tradi- 
tions'') dwells somewhere up there, and to the poetical idea 
that sickness comes from thence, and may be seen by the 
sharpsighted floating in the air. My-yalhi is the Aht 
word for this principle or personification of sickness. 
Chay-her is described as a country much like the earth, 
with inferior houses, no salmon, and very small deer. The 
blankets are small and thin, and therefore when the dead 
are buried the friends often burn blankets with them, for 
by destroying the blankets in this upper world, they send 
them also with the departed soul to the world below. 
Chay-her, as just said, is generally regarded as the 
place to which all the common people and slaves (unless 
slain in battle) go after death ; and there they remain, as 
there is no passage thence to the martial and aristocratic 
elysium of Quawteaht's land. Chay-her is sometimes 
personified as an old man with a long grey beard, and 
a figure of flesh without bones, and is believed to wander 
at nights seeking men's souls which he steals away, and 
unless the doctors can recover them the losers will die. 
In wishing death to anyone, the natives blow and say, 
" Chay-her, come quick." A corresponding belief is that, 
when a person is dangerously sick, his soul (Kouts-mah) 
leaves his body and goes down into the country of Chay-her, 
but does not enter a house. If it enters a house, that 



214 RETURN OF A SOUL. 

is a sign it has taken up its abode below for good, and 
the sick man dies. The common medicine man (Ooshtuk- 
yu) has no power over a soul descended to Chay-her, but 
the sorcerer (Kaukoutsmah-hali) has the' power of sending 
his own soul in pursuit of the descended soul of the sick 
man. If the mission be successful, the truant soul is 
brought back to the sorcerer, who throws it into the sick 
man's head ; for the soul, as they believe, dwells in the heart 
(lebuxti) and also in the head (Weht, brain). My informant 
asked me if I had ever seen a soul, and said he had once 
seen his own, when, at the close of a severe illness, it 
was brought to him by the sorcerer on a small piece of 
stick, and thrown into his head. 



215 



CHAPTER XXII, 

USAGES IN FISHING. 

The Aht mode of Fishing, with Descriptions of several Fish— the Salmon 
— Herrings— Halibut — Whale — Cod. 

Whatsoever swims upon any water belongs to this exchequer, — J. Taylor. 



I will now mention a few of the fish that are caught by 
the natives, beginning with the salmon. It is not likely 
that the accounts of any two travellers will agree as to the 
salmon in these waters, or that any trustworthy compre- 
hensive information will be obtained until some means 
exist on the spot of collecting and comparing proved facts 
about salmon. I entertain this opinion on account of the 
extent of uninhabited coast in this part of the world — 
uninhabited, I mean, by any civilised observers — and the 
number of streams, rivers, and lakes ; also the many kinds 
of salmon, and the different appearances which these fish 
present at various seasons, and at several stages of their 
ascent from the sea. The reader will have observed how 
important to the natives are the periodical migrations of 
the salmon, and how much human life, and life also of 



216 SALMON FISHING. 

beast and bird, is sustained by this precious visitor. 
Depending mainly on this fish for their means of subsist- 
ence, any change in its habits, or serious diminution of 
its numbers, would reduce the Aht people to great straits. 
The bear, marten, mink, racoon, and other animals, 
together with several birds of prey, would also suffer 
greatly without the salmon. This fish is, to man, here 
what the corn crop is in England, or what the potato crop 
was in Ireland. 

"Are there many salmon ? " is the common inquiry 
from canoe to canoe. " The salmon are scarce, and many 
people will die," is occasionally the disheartening answer. 
The natives believe that their forefathers knew always how 
to fish,* but some great personage in the old time taught 
them how to capture land animals, f The hunters among 
these tribes are more intelligent than the fishermen, or 
perhaps they seem so to a stranger imperfectly acquainted 
with their language. The hunters have a better oppor- 
tunity of noticing, and, consequently, greater readiness 
in describing the appearance and habits of the objects 
of their pursuit. \ So far as I have learnt by particular 
separate inquiries, made at various points on the west 
coast of Vancouver Island, seven kinds of salmon visit 
the Aht streams, and these seven kinds are considered by 
the natives to agree in nearly all essentials. One kind 
remains in the sounds, and six kinds ascend rivers. This 
is the positive statement of the Indians, but whether any 

* On the coast of Kerry twenty years ago — in 1845 — the people were 
so ignorant and untaught that they did not know hc.v to fish. When they 
had nets prepared for fishing, they did not follow the fish, but waited till 
the fish approached, and they had a good place to make a haul. (See Foster's 
Letters on the Condition of Ireland.) 



SALMON MIGRATIONS. 21? 

of these seven kinds are fish of different ages, or males 
following females, I have not definitely ascertained. Of 
the six kinds that go up streams, two are unable to leap 
waterfalls. There are two kinds of salmon trout (Ne-neech- 
nuck) in addition to these seven kinds of salmon. Salmon 
can be found during the whole year in the sounds, or in 
the long natural canals, or in the rivers. But there are 
special seasons, during w T hich more salmon, and salmon of 
a better quality, can be got. For many years this valuable 
fish has come and gone with great regularity, though not 
always in similar numbers. It arrives in some rivers 
earlier than in others, though the soil traversed by the 
rivers in their course and the warmth of the water, are in 
all respects the same.* 

I will here simply give the statement of the natives 
about the salmon, and, for sake of clearness, will use the 
native names. One kind of salmon in going dow T n 
towards the deep salt water, meets another kind on its 
way up, which inquires as to the state of matters 
in the rivers. The Klaywailth, w 7 hich is about thirty 
inches long, ascends from the sea in December, for the 
purpose of spawning, and remains w r ith the spawn till 
it becomes very thin. Eeturning towards the sea in the 
middle of January, it meets the Kliklimeesoulth — the 
largest of all the kinds, being on an average over three 
feet in length — on its way up. This large fish does not 
stay long after depositing its spaw T n, but returns to the sea 



* It is a curious fact that while the river Doon in Ayrshire is one of the 
earliest salmon rivers in the west of Scotland, the river Ayr, which is close 
at hand, is characterised by the lateness of its produce, few salmon being 
captured in it before the beginning of June. 



218 SALMON MIGRATIONS. 

about the beginning of March, and when in the brackish 
water near the mouth of rivers, where fresh and salt water 
mingle, is accosted by the Hissit — -the smallest of all the 
kinds, but a good fish for eating — which asks if there is a 
clear channel. Next comes the Tsoo-wit, the common 
salmon in British rivers, and about the same average size. 
This fish arrives in the inlets and rivers about June, and 
swims up the rivers without stopping, and afterwards 
remains for a considerable time. There are more of this 
fish than of any of the other descriptions. The Tsoo-wit 
is succeeded by the Satsope, which in size nearly equals 
the Klaywailth, and has large teeth. The latest salmon 
is the Enakous, a fish as large as the Satsope, and remark- 
able for its hook-nose. The Indians say that this 
peculiarity is caused b}^ the fish rubbing its nose on 
stones and gravel, in making its way against the strong 
streams in shallow rivers, swollen by melting snow. They 
laughed when I asked them if this peculiarity of the jaw 
existed only for a short time in male salmon, when the 
reproductive system was active. The former they 
evidently considered the real reason. The two last-named 
salmon cannot leap waterfalls, though they are able to 
pass small rapids. I thought that the Satsope and 
Enakous might be the same fish, as the latter has large 
teeth, as well as a hook-nose, but the natives affirm that 
these two fish are different species, one being distinguished 
by its hook-nose and the other by its long teeth. They 
say that the nose becomes of a right shape on the return 
of the fish to the sea, and that both males and females 
have hook-noses ; but this latter statement, from my own 
observation, I am inclined to doubt, as I have seen female 



SPA WNING. 219 

fishes with well-formed jaws or noses, but in other respects 
resembling those called by the natives Enakous, going up 
the rivers in company with the males. The only remaining 
kind of salmon, as the natives class it, is the Soha, a large 
flat-sided fish, which appears in the sounds in winter, but 
is not often caught. This kind never goes up rivers, and 
the natives have not discovered its spawning ground. Of 
all these salmon the Hissit and Tsoo-wit are the best food. 
They all look better when caught in the sounds than in the 
rivers. When caught in salt water, small fishes are found 
in the stomachs of the salmon, but in rivers their insides 
are quite small, and never have any contents. You do not 
see many flies skimming on the surface of the Aht streams, 
and I do not remember an instance of a salmon rising to 
catch them, but fine trout are caught by fly-fishers. Many 
of the salmon become tired by rubbing against the stones 
in sw T imming up the rivers, and finally die, and are cast 
upon the beach. The natives say that it is the old salmon 
which die thus by the way, in endeavouring to reach the 
spawning ground. They certainly cannot be fresh strong 
fish on leaving the sea, for in a stream within six miles of 
salt water I have seen numbers of salmon quite emaciated, 
and so worn that their fins were almost dropping off. The 
spawn of the salmon is deposited among the gravel in deep 
water, at the bottom of the river, where there is little 
current. It is put into holes which the fish cover by 
means of their tails and fins, the female doing it first, and 
the male afterwards. 

The water is so clear here, that probably the necessary 
light for quickening the eggs penetrates to a depth 
of ten feet. I have not observed any preference given 



220 ART MANNER OF CAPTURE. 

by the fish to shallow waters in seeking a spawning- 
ground. Sometimes, after spawning, the salmon return 
to the sea, but. swim so fast, and keep so much in deep 
water, that they are rarely seen. At this time they are very 
thin and poor-looking. The Indians have no more certain 
notion where they go to, than that they go into the sea, 
and, as they suppose, do not swim far away. The young 
fry (ta-tooin), most of which are spawned at various times 
during the middle and latter part of the year, are seen 
swimming about the river in winter, and they leave for the 
sea in five months after attaining the length of an inch. 
It takes them about a year to grow to this length ; * and 
after attaining this size they grow quickly. All the fry go 
to ,the sea ; none of them stay behind in their native river. 
The most* usual modes of capturing salmon by the 
Ahts are as follow : — close to the sea, with the hook ; 
with the spear, off the mouths of rivers ; and with traps, 
as well as the spear, when the fish are ascending streams. 
The steel hook is now in general use, with an anchovy or 
small herring for bait ; formerly the salmon-hook was 
wooden, with two bone barbs, and was fastened to a maple 
bark line of native manufacture. When the fish are 
numerous in deep water, a long stick, armed with several 
bone or iron upward spikes, as long as a little finger, and 
placed about two feet apart, is thrust down into the water,! 
and quickly drawn up among the fish, in order to rip 

* It is a common practice among the few tribes whose hunters go far 
/inland, at certain seasons, to transport the ova of the salmon in boxes 
- s , filled with damp moss, from the rivers to lakes, or to other streams. 

f Tne Newfoundland fishermen employ, in the capture of cod, a 
plummet of lead, armed with hooks, which is let down into the sea and 
moved to and fro. This practice is called "jigging " the fish. 



SALMON-SPEARS. 221 

them. The net is not -used at all by the Ahts in taking 
salmon. Their most picturesque mode of capture is 
spearing by torchlight from canoes, off the mouths of 
streams where the salmon linger in the cool, brackish 
water, before going up the river. Dark nights are pre- 
ferred for this mode of fishing. Two natives go in a canoe, 
one steering, and the other standing with his spear in the 
bow, where a fir-torch flares. I have seen the lights- of thirty 
canoes at one place moving on the water, and have known 
a canoe to bring in forty good salmon for a night's spearing. 
Such success, however, is unusual, and is only obtained 
at particular times under favourable conditions. Before 
leaving the shore to spear salmon, it is a common practice 
for a native to enter the water, and to rub his face hard, 
in the hope that this will induce more fish to come — quite 
as sensible an act as that of the English fisherman, who 
spits on his anchor ; and with the same idea, at the com- 
mencement of the season, men and women go into the 
water on a moonlight night, and lie quietly on the surface, 
floating here and there, without speaking a word, now and 
then crossing one another's arms and spreading the backs 
of their hands towards the moon. (See Chapter on 
" Religion.") The salmon-spears are made of pine, and 
are rounded and smoothed by being rubbed on watered 
stones, and are afterwards straightened by warmth in the 
ashes of the fires. The spear, with two heads and two 
finger-places in the handle, is about fifteen feet long, and is 
used in the deeper water off the mouths of rivers, when 
the two heads double the chances of hitting a fish at one 
stroke. The single-headed spear is used in the shallow 
water in rivers. The spear-head is made of elk-bone, 



222 SALMON-TRAPS. 

glazed with resin, and becomes detached from the spear on 
the fish being struck, but remains fastened to the line. 
The fisherman lays the spear down in the canoe, and 
hauls in the fish with the line. If the salmon is very- 
large and troublesome, a few small bladders are tied to the 
line as near to the fish as possible, and he is left to weary 
himself by the effort of dragging these under the water. 
In the rivers and mountain streams, in which the water 
generally is shallow and flows rapidly, the natives place 
stones across the channel, and with the single-headed 
spear strike the fish as they pass//' It is a pretty sight 
indeed to see an Indian, with his blue blanket flung care- 
lessly round him, standing on these stones in a vigilant, 
graceful attitude, poising his long spear. Another mode of 
salmon river-fishing is by the trap which is used in all the 
streams on the coast. On each side of the trap, in some 
instances extending as far as the bank, a wall, or fence of 
stones or small stakes, slants down the stream, so as to 
lead the fish, in swimming up, towards the spot where the 
trap is placed. This consists of three or four long circular 
baskets, of uniform diameter, made of cedar splinters tied 
neatly together, a space of about two inches being left 
between each splinter. The up-stream end of the baskets 
is closed, and the down-stream end is left open. The 
length of the baskets is from ten to twenty feet, and their 
diameter from three to five feet. They are placed length- 
wise down the stream, and small stakes stop the passage 
between each baskets, without leaving even the pig-length 
passage which Monkbarns would have looked for, as by 
Scottish statute allotted.' Inside each basket is a rather 
shorter basket of the same material and make, except that, 



HERRINGS. 223 

while the down-stream end of both baskets is the full size 
of the cylinder, the inner basket, which in shape is like a 
long candle-extinguisher, decreases till its open up-stream 
end is just of the size through which a salmon can pass. 
The down- stream ends of both inner and outer baskets 
being lashed together, form the entrance to the trap. 
The fish enters the inside basket in swimming up the 
stream, and on getting out of the small up-stream end of 
it, finds himself imprisoned between the two cylinders. 
These salmon traps are very neatly constructed, and catch 
a great many fish. 

Herrings. 

Herrings are numerous on the coast, but they have 
not so good a flavour as the British herring. The finest 
I ever got were caught in December in a bay near the head 
of a long inlet. Their appearance in that place at the end 
of the year was, however, unusual. Herrings are caught 
in the beginning of March close to the seashore in great 
numbers, and they enter the inlets, creeks, and bays, in 
the two following months for the purpose of spawning. 
As far as the Indians know, the herrings have only one 
spawning ground, and they never spawn, as the Indians 
describe it, " when snow is on the ground." They avoid 
places where the water runs fast. The spawning ground 
is generally the rough, stony bottom of a bay which 
becomes shallow towards the shore. At the Seshaht 
islands in Nitinaht (or Barclay) Sound, immense quantities 
of spawn are deposited by the herrings every year. I have 
seen many acres of herring-spawn at this place, j I The 
natives put cedar branches or stalks of long grass into the 



224 HERRING FISHERY. 

water, and press them to the bottom with stones — each 
person having his own piece of ground — and when the 
herrings have deposited their spawn, the pieces of grass 
or the branches are lifted, and the egg-bed is found firmly 
adhering to them. It is dried in the sun and kept as 
a delicacy to be eaten with whale oil. After spawning 
the herrings stay near the place for about a month, and 
then return to the deep sea. The fry grow quickly, — the 
natives say at the rate of an inch in a month, — and in the 
first summer of their existence depart for the sea, on the 
way to which many of them are eaten by the salmon. The 
fry return full-grown next spring. The herring is not 
a difficult fish to catch; many are caught by the Indians 
in a net similar in appearance to the " scum net " used 
in the north-east of Scotland. This net is made of nettles, 
which grow here to the height of eight or ten feet. The 
outside of the stalks is stripped off, and the inner portion 
is afterwards steeped in fresh water for four or five days 
during cold weather — a material thus being formed which 
makes a light strong net that will last for twenty years. 
Another mode of fishing herrings is with the fish-rake — 
a flat-sided pole ten feet long, armed for two feet from one 
end with sharp bones a few inches long and not far apart. 
This instrument is moved quickly through a herring shoal 
with a wavy motion, and the fish are transfixed and 
deposited in the canoe.H For a considerable time after 
the first appearance of herrings for the season, the rake 
can only be used on dark nights, when every now and 
then the water near the canoe is lighted up as the fish 
approach the surface. At spawning time, being less alert, 
they can be caught with the rake in the daytime. 



HALIBUT FISHING. 



Halibut. 



The next fish. I will mention is the halibut — a very 
common fish on the coast/' The mode of fishing for 
halibut is by " long-lining." For some reason or other, 
the natives will not use a steel hook in fishing for halibut. 
Their own halibut-hook is curiously shaped, and is 
made of a stringy tough part of the Douglas pine or 
the yew, which is steamed until it is flexible, when it 
receives its proper shape. The hook is of bone and has 
no barb. The sides of the hook must be kept tightly 
bound together until the time of using. The lines are 
made of seaweed except for six or eight feet from the 
hook, where they are of twisted twigs or deer sinew. To 
make seaweed into a line it is soaked in a fresh stream, 
and the water being afterwards squeezed out with the 
hands, the line is rubbed with an oily cloth and afterwards 
dried in the sun.. Clams or small fishes are used for 
bait in fishing halibut. The fishing season is during 
March, April, May, and June. Thousands of halibut, 
some of them weighing more than two hundred pounds, 
are caught by the natives, and are exchanged for potatoes, 
gammass, rush mats, and other articles. The best fishing- 
grounds are about twelve miles off the land, but the halibut 
is also caught near the shore. The fishing tribes on both 
sides of the Straits of Fuca would drive away any other 
tribes which had not been accustomed to fish on the halibut 
banks. | j The mode of fishing is to trail the line slowly 
after the canoe, the hook being sunk in deep water. 
Hundreds of canoes, with two or three men in each, start 
at midnight for the fishing-ground, so as to arrive there 

15 



226 THE WHALE. 

in the morningi After half a day's work, if the sea is 
moderate, the canoes are quite laden and the fishermen 
return. If the sea should rise during their progress to the 
shore, rather than throw any of the fish overboard, the 
natives tie large inflated sealskins to both sides of the 
canoe to increase its buoyancy. The hairy side of these 
skins is turned inside and the skinny side outside, and 
various rude devices are painted on the outside, such as 
the sinking of a canoe, or the capture of a great fish. To 
get so large a fish as a halibut into a canoe at sea is rather 
a difficult matter. Accidents, however, rarely happen, 
and the fish seldom gets away after being hooked. By 
using bladders attached to the line, and spearing the 
halibut when he appears on the surface, the largest fish 
is finally towed alongside the canoe, where he is killed 
by being struck on the head with a club. 

Whale. 

A whale chase is an affair of some moment. The kind 
of whale commonly seen on the coast was described to me 
by an old whaling skipper as a "finner," in which there is 
not much oil. The season for fishing whales commences 
about the end of May or in June. Many whales are killed 
every season by the Nitinahts, who live principally on the 
seaboard near Barclay or Nitinaht Sound. This tribe has 
a custom, which I have not observed elsewhere, of separat- 
ing during spring and summer into small parties, each 
under a separate head, but all still continuing under the 
chiefship of the principal chief of the tribe. 

Months beforehand preparations are made for the 
whale-fishing, which is considered almost a sacred season. 



WHALE FISHING. 227 

I particularly noticed this circumstance from having, in 
boyhood, heard of the Manx custom, in which all the 
crews of the herring fleet invoke a blessing before 
"shooting" their herring-nets. The honour of using 
the harpoon in an Aht tribe is enjoyed but by few — 
about a dozen in the tribe — who inherit the privilege. 
Instances, however, are known of the privilege having been 
acquired by merit. Eight or nine men, selected by the 
harpooner, form the crew of his canoe. For several 
moons before the fishing begins these men are compelled 
to abstain from their usual food : they live away from 
their wives, wash their bodies morning, noon, and night, 
and rub their skins with twigs, or a rough stone. If a 
canoe is damaged or capsized by a whale, or any accident 
happens during the fishing season, it is assumed that 
some of the crew have failed in their preparatory offices, 
and a very strict inquiry is instituted by the chief men 
of the tribe. Witnesses are examined, and an investi- 
gation made into the domestic affairs and the habits of the 
accused persons. Should any inculpatory circumstance 
appear, the delinquent is severely dealt with, and is often 
deprived of his rank, and placed under a ban for months. 
When the whales approach the coast, the fishermen are 
out all day, let the wind blow high or not. The canoes 
have different cruising-grounds, some little distance apart. 
The Indian whaling -gear consists of harpoons, lines, 
inflated sealskins, and wooden or bone spears. The 
harpoon is often made of a piece of the iron hoop of an 
ale cask, cut with a chisel into the shape of a harpoon 
blade — two barbs fashioned from the tips of deer-horns 
being affixed to this blade with gum. Close to the harpoon 



228 WHALE FISHING. 

the line is of deer sinews. To this the main line is 
attached, which is generally made of cedar twigs laid 
together as thick as a three-inch rope. Large inflated 
skins are fastened to this line about twelve feet from the 
harpoon. The weapon itself is then tied slightly to a yew- 
handle ten feet long. On getting close, the harpooner, 
from the bow of his canoe, throws his harpoon at the 
whale with his fall force. As soon as the barb enters, 
the fastening of the wooden handle, being but slight, 
breaks, and it becomes detached from the line. The 
natives raise a yell, and the whale dives quickly, but the 
seal-skins impede his movements. Very long lengths of 
line are kept in the canoes, and sometimes the lines from 
several canoes are joined. On the re-appearance of the 
whale on the surface, he is attacked from the nearest 
canoe ; and thus, finally, forty or fifty large buoys are 
attached to his body./ He struggles violently for a time, 
and beats and lashes the water in all directions, until, 
weakened by loss of blood and fatigued by his exertions, 
he ceases to struggle, and the natives despatch him with 
their short spears. The whale is then taken in tow by the 
whole fleet of canoes — the crews yelling, and singing and 
keeping time with their paddles. Sometimes, after being 
harpooned, the whale escapes, and takes ropes, harpoons, 
sealskins, and everything with him. Should he die from 
his wounds, and be found by another tribe at sea, or on 
the shore within the territorial limits of the finders, the 
instruments are returned to the losers, with a large piece 
of the fish as a present. Many disputes arise between 
tribes on the finding of dead whales near the undefined 
boundaries of the tribal territories. If the quarrel is 



THE COD. 229 

serious, all intercourse ceases ; trade is forbidden, and 
war is threatened. By-and-by, when the loss of trade is 
felt, negotiation is tried. An envoy is selected who is of 
high rank in his own tribe, and, if possible, connected with 
the other tribe by marriage. He is usually a quiet man of 
fluent speech. Wearing white-eagle feathers in his head- 
dress as a mark of peace, he departs in a small canoe. 
Only one female attendant, generally an old slave, accom- 
panies him, to assist in paddling, as the natives never 
risk two men on such occasions. The envoy's return is 
anxiously awaited. As a general rule, the first proposition 
is rejected. Objections, references, counter-proposals, fre- 
quently make three or four embassies necessary before the 
question can be settled. By that time the blubber must 
be very rancid. 

The Cod. 

The existence of banks of the real bearded cod on 
the west coast of Vancouver Island is not yet quite 
established. I have seen, however, codfish at Barclay or 
Nitinaht Sound which were unmistakeably of that species. 
There is a productive bank on the west eoast of Vancouver 
Island of an excellent fish, called by the Ahts, " Toosh-ko," 
which is very like the " Tusk" of the north of Scotland, 
and almost as good to eat as the true cod. Being a fatter 
fish, it becomes slightly yellow during the process of drying ; 
but in other respects the Vancouver Island " Toosh-ko," 
when well prepared, is equal to the best dried Boston cod. 
It sells in Victoria at from 10 to 12 cents, a pound. ] In 
the deep sea off shore, instead of being caught by " long- 
lining," these fish are enticed to the surface and speared 



230 MODE OF FISHING COD. 

by the natives in a singular manner. They tie a line to 
the head of a small herring or anchovy, which is thrown 
alive into the water, and after descending several fathoms, 
is rapidly drawn back towards the surface. The " Toosh-ko,' ' 
in following this prey, approach the surface, and are speared 
from the canoes. A bit of wood fifteen inches long — 
generally decayed wood, on account of its lightness — is 
sometimes used in smooth water as a decoy-fish, instead 
of the herring or anchovy bait. It is made thin at one 
end for three or four inches, and a piece of heavier white 
wood, representing an elongated spoon bait, is fixed on 
each side of the thin part. This instrument is thrust 
down into the water on the end of a long spear, and being 
detached by a jerk, spins upwards, and attracts the 
Toosh-ko, which, on approaching the surface, is speared, 
and the decoy is picked up and again used. This may 
seem a strange way of fishing cod, but I have seen it 
practised with success, u 



( 231 ) 



CHAPTEE XXIII. 

USAGES IN HUNTING. 

The Aht mode of Hunting ; with Descriptions of Several Animals — the 
Panther— Wolf— Bear— Wapiti or Elk— Blacktailed Deer— Indian 
Dogs — Marten — Mink— Eacoon — Beaver. 



And whafs worse, 
To fight the animals, and to kill them up, 
In their assigned and native dwelling place.— Shakspeare. 



The outside coast of Vancouver Island offers good sport to 
those who take pleasure in hunting wild animals, the 
pursuit of which involves little danger to the hunter ; but 
the mere partridge- shooter, who always expects his dinner 
to be ready for him at an appointed hour, should not try 
this Far West sporting-ground. Whoever visits this coast 
at present for the purpose of hunting must possess the 
spirit and endurance of the sportsman, or his expectations 
will be disappointed. The traveller who lands from a ship 
to shoot a few ducks in a bay, or a deer near the shore, 
has only an imperfect notion*- of the sport which the 
country affords. To find what game there is really in the 
country, he should leave the shore and traverse the interior 



232 A SPORTSMAN'S REQUIREMENTS. 

at proper seasons, carrying his shooting gear, food, and 
blankets through intricate woods and over broken ground, 
where a mile-and-a-half an hour will be good walking ; 
now and then wearing snow shoes, and sometimes pre- 
pared for rain ; and at all times satisfied with a native hut 
or a spreading cedar-tree as shelter for the night. It is 
advisable to take with one a native hunter, who under- 
stands the habits and peculiarities of the wild fowl and 
the animals which are found in the district. And I may 
remind the untravelled sportsman, who would exchange 
the anxieties of life for an interval of interest and adven- 
ture in these pathless woods, that in the Aht district he 
must live for the time remote from civilized man, among a 
savage people, whose language he does not know, and who 
will be quite ready to take advantage of him. This is, 
indeed, the chief difficulty at present in the way of the 
sportsman; but by-and-by, when settlements are formed 
along the coast, wild sports in Vancouver Island will be 
more generally followed. * 

The Aht natives, distinctively, as before state'd, are a 
fish-eating people, but one or two good hunters are found 
in most of the tribes. The hunters of those tribes which 

* I may mention here that the Indian hunter is certainly inferior to the ex- 
perienced white man in the best qualities of a sportsman, whatever quickness 
of sight, or knowledge of the habits of animals he may possess. The Aht 
savage has not yet learned how to shoot game, running or flying, and under 
unexpected circumstances he wants the coolness and judgment of the civi- 
lized hunter. If deer spring from cover on both sides of him the Indian 
becomes flurried, fires hastily, and misses his aim ; but the white hunter 
retains his self-possession, and perhaps knocks a deer down right and left. I 
have noticed also that the Indian has fired a long shot when it was certain 
that by waiting he would get a nearer one. He is too excitable, and acts 
on the first impulse in discharging his gun, particularly when the powder 
is not his own. 



PANTHER. 233 

go inland only at certain seasons in pursuit of salmon, and 
hunt along the stream from which they obtain their fish, 
are, of course, less informed respecting the habits of the 
wild animals than the small tribes which, living inland 
along lakes and rivers, spend more of their time in hunting. 
I took up my quarters forty miles from the sea-board, near 
the village of one of these latter tribes, in which were tw T o 
noted native hunters — Quicheenam and Quassoon — who were 
familiar with the rough mountains and wild lakes of the 
interior. They showed me their traps, and explained their 
modes of hunting the various beasts of chase. They also 
described several animals which I am sure never existed 
but in their lying imaginations. I will relate what they 
told me, and what I myself saw here and elsewhere upon 
the coast. On my return now to civilization, it will be 
curious to notice how far this account agrees with the con- 
ventional statements in books of natural history.* 

Panther. 

The most dangerous wild beast in this part of the island 
is a species of panther {hj-yu-men), which occasionally enters 
the deer traps of the natives. It is not so numerous as 
might be expected from the number of elk and deer in the 
district on which it might prey. The largest panther that 
has been killed near Alberni measured eight feet from the 
nose to the end of the tail, and was over three feet high at 
the shoulder. The tail was two feet long, The colour of 

* I may record that I have seen a whistling marmot, and only one, on 
the West Coast ; and in 1863, an Indian brought me a small tortoise from 
Sproat's Lake, which Dr. R. Brown thinks probably was the Actinemys 
Marmorata of Agassiz. I could not find that the tortoise was regarded as 
a sacred animal. 



234 WOLVES. 

this formidable animal was a light brown, with a dark- 
brown streak all the way down the back, and a black tip to 
the tail. His skin was measured by Captain John Hen- 
derson, of the steamer Thames, and myself, at Alberni, in 
1865. The panther is of a solitary disposition, and is 
rarely seen by the native hunters. They do not pursue it, 
but rather endeavour to get out of its way. Hardly any- 
thing is known by them of this animal's habits, except 
that it prowls at night, and captures the deer by springing 
suddenly upon them. On one occasion I saw a young 
panther shot, which had betaken itself to a tree, and it 
looked a dangerous beast, lying on the ground wounded, 
and gnashing its strong teeth. It was of a brownish 
yellow colour, with dark tips on the hairs, and a lighter 
line down its back. In the full-grown animal this line, as 
has been observed, turns to a dark colour. During the 
last few years several flocks of sheep have been disturbed 
by panthers in the neighbourhood of Victoria, but it is not 
thought that there are many of these animals in any part 
of the island. 

Wolves. 

Wolves (sah-ook or kannatlah) of different colours are 
numerous along the whole coast, but are seldom shot, 
as these wild and savage beasts are of little use to the 
natives, and besides are regarded with superstitious fear. 
Occasionally, however, a wolf is shot which has approached 
too near a village on a misty night, and its fat is then 
melted down for a medicine to be applied outwardly to 
wounds and bruises. As the animals which form the prey 
of the wolves abound in the woods — retreating inland in 



BEAR. 235 

summer to the mountains, and in winter coming nearer the 
shore—the wolves do not assemble in large packs under 
pressure of a common want of food, but hunt in couples, or 
four or five together. I have often heard their dreadful howls 
at night. Deer are the favourite prey of the wolves, but 
they will eat almost anything — putrid fish, or carcases of 
animals left by hunters in the woods, and when pressed 
by hunger, even the refuse that lies about the temporarily 
deserted native encampments. The traps for marten, 
racoon, and deer, also the bear traps — when Bruin is 
helpless under the treacherous mass of w T ood — are harried 
by the wolves, who devour the captured prey. The dogs of 
the natives fly, and crouch near their masters, w r hen the 
wolves' howls are heard ; but an old mastiff bitch of mine, 
which I brought from London, came off not very much the 
worse from several stiff encounters. No instance is known 
of wolves having attacked the natives. 

Bear. 

The common black bear (chimmus) is frequently met with, 
and makes excellent sport. He sometimes reaches a size of 
three feet high at the shoulder, and six feet long, not including 
the tail. The latter end of the autumn, just before the bears 
go into their winter quarters, is the best season for hunting 
them. Three or four hunters — one carrying a lance, and 
the others armed with guns — enter the woods with half-a- 
dozen dogs, and separate in search of game. When a bear 
is seen, a whoop is sounded to bring the hunters together. 
The dogs follow, barking loudly, but cannot always over- 
take the bear ; he sometimes turns on the dogs, and drives 
them back. On seeing the men, the bear again runs, and 



236 HABITS OF THE BEAR. 

finally climbs a tree, commonly a cedar, as the branches 
come low down the trunk, and the foliage affords cover. 
A bear, however, by grasping the bole of the tree between 
its paws, can readily climb a full-grown pine-tree, which 
has no branches to a considerable height from the ground. 
His fate, on being discovered, is no longer doubtful, though 
many shots may have to be fired before he is dislodged. 
A bear, desperately wounded, will not relinquish his 
position while he has power to support himself. He hangs 
sometimes, for a time, by one paw, until at last, weak and 
dizzy, he falls to the ground and is despatched by a lance 
thrust. Another plan of getting a bear is by marking the 
end of his track, commonly at a drinking place on a river 
bank, and by shooting him from a canoe or an ambush on 
shore. The bear is also shot or speared in his winter 
hiding-place, which is usually the decayed body, or under 
the root, of some large tree in a retired part of the forest. 
Here the female bear brings forth her young, and makes a 
bed for them at the bottom of her den. The large bears 
generally have two young ones at a birth, and the small 
bears only one. Four months is about the time during 
which the bear remains in retirement ; but the animal 
does not sleep during the whole winter, for I have seen 
bears (probably males) walking about in January, wiien the 
snow was a foot deep. In the month of February I have 
seen their tracks towards water. Bear cubs are often seen 
about the native villages which have been taken from the 
mother's den at an age when the skin was of no value, and 
there was consequently no inducement to kill them. The 
food of the bear consists of grass, leaves, berries, and 
salmon. He is a great fisher, and will repair at night to 



BEAU-TRAP. 237 

the bank of a shallow river or stream, and there patiently 
sit on his haunches, looking downwards, until a rippling 
of the water, touched brightly, perhaps, by a ray of the 
moon, shows an approaching fish ; by a clever scoop of his 
large paw he lands the fish on the bank, seizes it with his 
mouth, and retires into the forest. This is not a difficult 
feat with tired salmon in a shallow stream ; I have thrown 
them upon the bank with the paddle of a canoe. Another 
fishing station of the bear is on a tree blown down and 
lying across a brook; with his paw near the surface of the 
shallow water he catches the fish swimming up, as they 
appear from under the tree. 

The natives frequently catch wild animals in traps. 
One description of trap is generally used, and is simple 
and effective. It is made larger or smaller, as required for 
bears, deer, beaver, racoon, marten, or mink. Since guns 
were introduced trapping has been little practised, and few 
skilful native trappers can now be found. It is still, how- 
ever, followed, especially by the marten hunters, as gun- 
shot injures the skin of small animals. Pitfalls are seldom 
used on the West Coast for the capture of wild animals. 
The bear-trap succeeds best when snow lies on the ground. 
I A few sticks, two or three stones, and a bit of rope made 
of cedar-bark, are all the materials necessary in making 
the trap. A thick piece of timber, or the trunk of a small 
tree, is heavily weighted with stones for about the length 
of five feet from one end, and the extremity of this 
weighted end rests on the ground. The unweighted end 
of the piece of timber is then raised about eight feet above 
the ground, and is kept thus suspended by a -strong rope 
of cedar-bark which is attached to it, and also tied to the 



238 ELK. 

end of a cross-piece, which has been placed immediately 
above the raised end of the piece of timber. The other 
end of this cross-piece, which at its middle or centre rests 
upon a convenient support — perhaps the stump of a tree, 
or other suitable object — is then depressed to within about 
two feet of the ground, by a slender rope slightly attached 
to it. This rope is made to cross the animals' track, and 
on his touching it, it slips off this depressed end of the 
cross-piece, and this end of the cross-piece itself imme- 
diately flies up so much above the level that the other end 
is depressed, and the whole cross-piece slips off its resting- 
place, and the whole affair — cross-piece and piece of timber 
— of course falls to the ground. The latter falls heavily, 
both on account of its own weight, and also from the 
weighty pressure of the stones on the other end, and thus 
the bear is, in fact, crushed by it. Of course, for smaller 
animals, slighter materials are employed. Placed in the 
accustomed track of the bear to his feeding or drinking- 
place — generally at a spot where a stump or upturned root 
for supporting the cross-bar allows the trap to be set 
without disturbing the usual appearance of the path — the 
bear walks against the slender rope, and a heavy log falls 
on his neck or back, and presses him to the ground.* 
This stick-trap is also used by the natives in capturing 
deer (but not elk) when ammunition is scarce. 

Elk. 

So far as I know, there are but two kinds of deer in 
the country — a black- tailed deer (ah-toosh or moouch), and 

* A small trap, made on this principle, is used for capturing martens by 
the Indians who inhabit the woody district around Hudson's Bay, , 



THE WAPITI. 239 

what is called the American elk (kloh-nym). This name of 
elk is the name given to the animal by the colonists, but it 
must not be confounded with the moose of the United States. 
The deer meant by me is similar in general appearance to 
the stag of Europe, and is probably the wapiti, or Cervus 
Canadensis. I may note, however, that it is stated in 
some books that the branching horns of this animal are 
no incumbrance in forcing its way through the woods, and 
that it lays them flat on its back before plunging among 
the trees. Neither of these remarks is true of the wapiti 
of Vancouver Island. 

The other deer, which I call " blacktail," may be the 
Cervus Macrotis or Virginianas. The reader may judge for 
himself by the description. 

Both these species of deer are numerous, owing to the 
smallness of the population and the absence of large car- 
nivorous wild animals in Vancouver Island. The wapiti 
deer have not been much seen by the colonists, but they 
are numerous in the interior of the island. In summer, 
they frequent the mountains, and in winter, they come 
down to the lower ground. A man and boy at Pacheen, 
on the West Coast, killed seven elk in two days, in 
1864. The body of the wapiti is round, and as large as 
that of a good-sized ox, and the height of a full-grown 
buck is sometimes above five feet at the shoulder. The 
male elk is the larger. The legs and hoofs are shaped 
like those of a deer, but seem longer and thinner in pro- 
portion to the weight of the animal's body. The head is 
flat on the sides, like the head of a horse, w T hich it some- 
what resembles, except that the nose of an elk is much 
sharper, and the upper lip is somewhat prominent, and 



240 HABITS OF THE ELK. 

well adapted for grasping. The tail is quite short, and is 
kept down in running. The ears are less broad, and less 
finely shaped, than the deer's, and stand straight up. The 
hair, in winter, is long and coarse ; but comes off towards 
summer, beginning at the flanks. The colour of the head 
and of the body of the elk is the same, viewed as a whole, 
namely, a light brown, with a little yellowish tinge at the 
end of the lower lip and round the eyes, along the back it 
is of a somewhat fainter colour than the body, and has a 
sandy-coloured rump and tail. In summer, when the hair 
is short, the elk becomes of a light red colour, the hinder 
part, including the tail, then being white. His swiftest 
pace is a trot, and he never bounds, except in leaping over 
fallen trees. For a short distance, the elk runs, on clear 
ground, as fast as a dog ; but is soon overtaken, especially 
if snow lies on the ground. He has tracks of his own 
through the woods, as he cannot go freely through the 
forest, owing to his great size and his spreading antlers. 
The largest pair of elk horns that I have seen weighed 
forty-six pounds ; the length, twenty-seven inches ; they 
measured across between tip and tip, twenty-five inches. 
The females have no horns. As the elk, in this island, has 
never been domesticated, no one has had an opportunity of 
observing the progressive growth of the antlers ; but the 
natives say that the brow antler comes at the fifth year, 
and an additional point every year afterwards. The horns 
fall off and are renewed annually. Previously becoming 
soft and hairy, they are dropped about March or April, 
and for two months the reproductive growth is hardly per- 
ceptible ; but after that interval, the horns grow quickly 
for the remainder of the year. The lower jaw teeth of the 



ELK-HUNTING. 241 

deer and elk are the same— eight teeth in the front of the 
jaw, with grinders near the throat ; but the upper jaw of 
the two animals is differently furnished. The deer has no 
teeth in the upper jaw in front of the grinders, whereas 
the elk has one large conical tooth on each side of the 
upper jaw, about two inches back from the point of the 
nose. Both have facial slits, or supplementary breathing 
organs, under the eyes. The female elk brings forth in May 
or June, and generally produces one, but sometimes two 
young ones at a birth. The flesh of the elk is good to eat, 
indeed is finer in flavour than that of the black-tailed deer. 
His food consists of grass, bark, and leaves. He loves to 
retire into the thick parts of the forest, from which he comes 
out in the early morning and in the evening for the purpose 
of feeding. The natives hunt the elk both in summer and 
winter, and find them fattest in October and November, at 
which time they have been feeding long on good pasture. 
So quick is the native hunter's practised sense of hearing 
that, in walking through the woods, he will first discover 
the near presence of deer by the slight noise they make in 
feeding. Two or three elk generally go together ; but as 
many as nine females and young, with one king or leader, 
are occasionally seen. I knew an old native hunter— 
Quicheenam, of the Opechisahts — who, with his whole 
family, was accustomed to go every summer for two months 
about thirty miles from his village, for the purpose of 
shooting elk and deer on a large rocky mountain. There 
being no wood on the mountain, except a scrubby fringe at 
its foot, a hut was made of stones, and wood was carried 
up for fire. Knowing well the haunts and habits of the 
animals, and approaching them warily behind masses of 

16 



242 DOGS. 

rock, the hunter and his sons killed many elk and deer 
every season ; and, as the animals were too heavy to be 
removed to any distance, they cut the flesh into long 
strips, which they dried in the smoke, and carried in bags 
to their village. On this excursion, no dogs were taken ; 
but- in chasing elk in winter, the dog is a useful ally of the 
hunter. Three dogs are sufficient to pursue and harass a 
small elk ; but it is better to have four or five to surround 
a large elk. I Every Aht tribe has several dogs, short- 
haired, sharp-nosed, thin-tailed, sour-natured animals, of 
middle size, with a wheezy bark, and which howl as if 
howling were natural to them. 

The more inland tribes say they got their dogs from the 

tribes dwelling on the seaboard. They may have been 

originally left by voyagers, and may have degenerated ; or 

the dogs of the Ahts may be indigenous. Mr. Joseph Dean, 

an intelligent settler at Komux, told me that he, on one 

occasion, saw dogs — half-bred between dogs of the Indians 

and dogs of the colonists — playing with wolves, the wolves 

chasing the dogs, and the dogs chasing the wolves. As 

has been already stated, the wolves at Alberni several times 

attacked my mastiff bitch. Following by scent the track 

of the elk in the snow, the dogs bark on seeing him, and the 

courageous animal, on hearing the voice of the dogs, stops 

and turns round to butt them. As long as the dogs harass 

him, the elk will not fly, even on the appearance of the 

hunter.* It is common for half-a-dozen natives to go out 

* An old chief, Kal-lowe-ish, not more given to lying than his neigh- 
bours, assured me that an elk will approach and stand still, looking at 
a blue blanket spread upon the snow, but will not be attracted by a red or 
white blanket, and that he has lured elk in this way in hunting without 
dogs. 



BLACK-TAILED DEER. 243 

elk-hunting. They make a small hut of branches in the 
forest, hunt in the. morning and evening, and sit round 
the fire during the day. On killing an elk, they search 
for his marrow, and eat it as a precious morsel ; in this, 
resembling the Danish " Kitchen-iniddeners," who also 
seem to have liked marrow. A wounded elk sometimes 
attacks the hunter, who, for his protection in such an 
event, carries a knife, made of sharpened iron hoop 
(formerly of mussel shell), fixed into a wooden handle 
three feet long. The natives formerly made many weapons 
and instruments of elk-horn ; but, since the introduction 
of iron, elk-horn has not been much used for such 
purposes. 

Black- tailed Deer. 

The other species of deer I have called the black-tailed 
deer, as the tail is always black for about two inches at 
the end on the upper side, the under side being white. 
The tail is not over four inches long, and is turned up in 
running. This is a much smaller animal than the elk, 
seldom exceeding 150 lbs. in weight, but its shape is 
beautiful. The flesh, however, is inferior in flavour to 
that of the elk, and also to the flavour of the English deer. 
It is in best condition about the end of the year. All that 
I have seen were of the same colour — a lightish brown, 
but not so light as the elk — with a slightly darker shade 
along the back than on the body. The hair at the end of 
the nose, the forehead between the eyes, and the top of the 
head round the root of the horns, is black. In the males 
the parts between the nose and eyes, and round the eyes, 
are ash-coloured, with darker shades towards the cheeks. 

I6—2 



244 THE MARTEN. 

The ears are long and flexible, and are of the same colour 
as the body. The hair of this deer is shorter, closer, and 
finer than the coarse, spongy hair of the elk. It becomes 
thin and short in summer, at which time it is of a lighter 
colour than in winter. When dropped, the young are 
beautifully marked along the back with round spots, but 
these soon disappear. 

In running, the black-tailed deer bounds with every 
foot from the ground at the same time. The hunter finds 
it singly, or two or three together, in ravines or thickets, 
or in the morning and evening browsing in the open 
forest. As many as forty have been seen in one day. 
When numerous in the mountains, the black-tailed deer 
are often caught with dogs, which are able to gain upon 
them among rocks or in thick wood ; but nearer the shore 
the natives generally shoot them. Traps are also set in 
their tracks near drinking places, and sometimes dogs 
chase the deer into the water and enable the natives to 
capture them. In this way I captured two deer from a 
boat one forenoon at Alberni. They do not swim quickly, 
and are easily taken. The horns of the black-tailed deer 
are not large ; the brow antler is wanting, and five points 
are the most I ever saw on the horns of an old animal. 
The natives say that the horns " fall with the grass" — 
about December — and " grow again with the leaves." The 
young are brought forth about May. The average number 
at a birth is two ; this number is rarely exceeded. 

Marten. 

Of the remaining land-animals hunted by the natives, 
the marten (Kleekklayhyyeh) is one of the most valuable, as 



MARTEN-TRAP. 245 

its fur is prized by white traders. The fur of this active and 
graceful little animal is in its best condition in winter, but 
the marten is most easily caught in the autumn and fall, 
when it approaches the waters in search of salmon. The 
marten makes its house among stones on the ground, but 
more commonly inside decayed trees on which the bark 
is loose. It will climb up between the bark and wood of 
a decayed tree to its nest many feet from the ground. The 
marten sleeps during the greater part of the day, and 
comes out to feed in the early morning, and afterwards 
runs about for a few hours before returning to rest. The 
hunter at this time watches to shoot it, but trapping is 
preferred because the shot injures the skin. The trap 
is a small stick-trap, exactly like the bear-trap already 
described. It is baited with a bit of salmon and placed 
near where the tracks of the marten have been seen, or 
where a tree has been playfully scraped with its claws, as 
is its wont on a bright forenoon. As many as forty traps 
are set at one time by a hunter, and if by the whole 
number one marten is caught in a week, it is fair sport. 
There is but one kind of marten on the island. The 
natives do not know that the marten eats anything but 
salmon or salmon-trout. They do not think that it eats 
birds or eggs. It does not go into the water, but feeds on 
dead salmon washed upon the beach, or on portions of 
fish left by the bears in the woods. The remains of deer 
killed and abandoned by the natives also furnish it with 
food. The marten breeds during summer in the stump 
of a decayed tree, and the female has generally three young 
ones. The hunter never sees more than two old martens, 
with their young, together. The only apparent difference 



246 THE MINK. —THE RACOON. 

between the female and male is that the male is of a 
darker colour on the breast. I could not find what the 
marten was likely to feed on when fish or deer was not 
obtainable ; perhaps it may be able to get one or the other 
all the year round, or it may feed on birds. 

Mink. 

The mink (chastimit) is a small animal, not unlike the 
marten in shape, but with a less bushy tail and an inferior 
fur of a darker colour, and white instead of red under the 
throat and on the breast ; it is more independent than the 
marten in the matter of food, being able to dive under 
water and fish for itself. The natives kill numbers of 
mink all the year round for the sake of the skins, which 
they sell to the traders. They are shot, taken with stick- 
traps, or caught by dogs. Dogs can catch them on a 
clear beach, but not in the forest. The mink does not 
climb trees. Morning or evening is the best time for 
getting them. This animal lives among the stones on 
the beach, and keeps near the sea-coast, where it feeds 
upon clams, oysters, mussels, fish, and also birds. It sleeps 
during the afternoon and night, and hunts for its prey 
generally in the early morning. The natives say that the 
mink also eats salmon-berry leaves, but that the marten 
does not. As many as five mink are sometimes seen 
together. Summer is their breeding time, and the female 
generally has four young at a birth. 

Eacoon". 

Another common wild r nimal hunted by the natives is 
the black-footed racoon (Klapesim), the skin of which is 



HABITS OF THE BACOOX. 24? 

also sold to white traders. I have forced a racoon in the 
day time from under the root of a fallen tree, and killed 
him with a stone. He is generally found up a cedar tree, 
which he easily climbs, and he spends the clay in sleep on 
one of its branches, coming down in the night time to feed. 
The locality he prefers is the neighbourhood of small 
shallow streams that run into a river. More racoons are 
found near the sea-shore than away from it. Like the 
mink, he is fond of mussels and shell fish, or a dead deer, 
but roots, berries, and leaves, are also favourite articles of 
food. He will not enter the water, yet the bear himself is 
not a keener fisher. When twilight comes, the racoon, 
who has passed the day rolled up in the form of a ball on 
the thick branch of a cedar tree, descends to the ground, 
and stations himself upon his haunches, by the side of a 
stream, in which there may be only a few inches of water. 
His round eyes, specially adapted for seeing well in the 
dark, glisten as the tiny fish sport before him, and, suddenly 
extending at the same time his two fore-feet into the water, 
he presses the little captive between them and conveys it to 
his mouth. The racoons seem to be sociable animals, as 
four or five are sometimes seen together. The female breeds 
in summer, and has as many as five young ones at a birth. 
When taken young, the racoon is easily tamed, but it is 
always of rather a capricious temper. The common native 
stick-trap, baited with a small fish, and placed near a track 
of the racoon towards the water, is used by the natives in 
capturing this animal. They sometimes succeed in shoot- 
ing him from the bank of a stream in the morning, while 
fishing, as described. Though proverbially wary, the 
racoon is more easily captured by the natives than either 



248 THE BEAVER. 

the marten or mink. His gait is heavy and awkward, and 
when discovered on the ground he rarely escapes. 

Beaver. 

The heaver (Attoh) which, in some respects, is the most 
interesting of all the wild animals hunted by the natives, is 
the last I shall mention. The skin of the beaver, formerly, 
was very valuable in trade. What the natives told me of this 
animal was rather disappointing, after all my boyish respect 
for the sagacity which it was said to display. They think the 
beaver is a commonplace animal, which any ordinary hunter 
can capture. A chief might be proud of the name of 
Kill-bear, or Kill-elk, or Kill-whale, but Kill-beaver w T ould 
hardly be valued as an honorary title. I confess that I 
have seen many beaver-dams both in the streams and lakes 
of the Aht district, and they never struck me as anything 
extraordinary. The most noticeable effort on the part of 
the beavers that I could hear of was, biting through and 
felling a willow tree seven inches in diameter ; but the 
stupid creatures could not move the tree when it was down, 
so all their labour was lost. Perhaps as the winters are 
mild in Vancouver Island, an inferior instinct suffices on 
the part of the beaver, compared with the instinct required 
by the animal in a severer climate. No large community 
of beavers has been seen by the Indians, Their dams are 
formed both in lakes and streams, and are made of trunks 
and branches of trees, sticks, mud, and stones huddled 
rudely together. Their oval houses are built of the same 
materials, and are about six feet in diameter, and five or 
six feet in height. Four old beavers and six or eight young 
ones are the most that have been seen in one dwelling. 



HABITS OF THE BEAVER. 249 

The beavers lie in these houses — as the Indians express 
it — " like boys;" but when the female has young ones 
she goes into a separate bed, or chamber, I could not 
ascertain which. There is no storey in a beaver's house for 
convenience of change in case of floods ; the waste-way is 
generally sufficient to carry off any extraordinary quantity 
of water. The beaver breeds at any season when there is 
no snow on the ground, and has three or four little ones at 
a time. The houses of the beaver on the banks of lakes 
are abandoned when the water is very high ; and the 
beavers go to small streams, which they form into a 
succession of diminutive lakes. These dams are connected, 
in case of a flood, by a sufficient watercourse through the 
middle of the dam, and down the centre of the stream ; 
and on, or rather in, the dams, the beavers build their 
houses, and provide themselves with an entrance by means 
of a hole under water. It is in these houses on small 
streams that the beavers generally breed. The principal 
food of the beaver in this district is grass, and the leaf and 
bark of the willow and alder, and roots at the bottom of the 
lake. It is not necessary for him to lay in a stock for 
winter. He sleeps during the day, and comes out at nights 
to feed ; the only difference in his habits being that he 
sleeps a little longer in the winter — still, however, appearing 
at nights for the purpose of feeding. His eyes are small, 
and he cannot see far, but his nose is very keen. He swims 
in the water with a part of his head above the surface like 
a seal. The natives approach to leeward at night, and spear 
the beaver from a canoe, as he floats eating a branch taken 
from the shore ; or they shoot him when he is in shallow 
water, but not in deep water, as he sinks on receiving the 



250 BE A VER-TRAPPING. 

shot. They also block up the opening into his house, 
break through the wall, and shoot or spear him. It would 
be no use waiting at his house to shoot the beaver as he 
went out, for the entrance is under water. Trapping is 
perhaps the favourite mode of capturing the beaver, as it 
leaves the skin uninjured. The common stick-trap is used 
without bait, but with the addition of a side or wall made 
of cedar sticks, which projects into the lake for ten or 
fifteen feet, so as to lead the animal towards the trap as he 
approaches the shore. The beaver generally lands at one 
place, and the trap is set in the track, almost the whole of 
it being in the water. The deceiving string is placed just 
about the water line. 



( 2&1 ) 



CHAPTER XXIV, 

DISEASES. 
Diseases — Medicines and Medical Practice, 



And at their heels, a huge infectious troop 

Of pale distemper atures and foes to life. — Shakspeare. 



The commonest diseases among the Ahts are bilious com- 
plaints, constipation, dysentery, and consumption, pro- 
duced, I suppose, by their coarse oily food, irregular 
meals, and frequent personal exposure. Fevers and acute 
inflammatory diseases are also common, and these often 
end fatally, as the natives do not understand the proper 
modes of treatment. Rheumatism and paralysis are rare 
maladies. I have been told by traders that syphilis was 
unknown among them twenty years ago. I think this is a 
mistake, and that it is probably indigenous, as the natives 
have herbs which they use in curing this disease. It is 
now quite common, and is almost invariably followed by 
consumption. Many of the old people, particularly the 
women, suffer from ophthalmia. Being totally ignorant of 
the pathology of diseases, and believing that bodily ailments 



252 BROKEN LIMBS. 

are caused, either by the temporary absence of the soul, or 
by the presence of the spirit of some animal or demon in 
the sick person, the natives treat every disease nearly in the 
same manner, and direct their efforts towards the recovery 
of the soul or the expulsion of the evil spirit. They have 
no knowledge of anatomy, nor any distinct knowledge of 
the circulation of the blood. Sprains and contusions are 
cured by the plentiful application of cold water. In cases 
of breakage of the arm or leg, the limb is straightened, 
and four deep incisions, several inches long, are made 
lengthwise through the flesh, round the limb, at the place 
of fracture. Into these cuts the doctor spits, after chewing 
leaves. No splints are used except when a leg is broken ; a 
piece of delicate white pine bark cloth is then tied round the 
limb, in many folds, and allowed to remain till the bone has 
become re-united. I have seen several cases of broken legs 
that had been cured by the natives, but there was always 
some shortness of the limb afterwards. They possess 
sufficient skill to set dislocations in a rough way, which 
probably causes much pain to the patient. In gunshot 
wounds the ball, when buried, is never removed, but 
operations with a knife are performed for the extraction of 
bullets lying near the skin. Amputation and blood-letting 
have never been resorted to by the natives as a means 
of cure. 

Perhaps no people more extensively believe in the 
assisting of nature, by means of medicines and extraordi- 
nary operations. These appliances, as might be expected, 
consist more in jugglery and sorcery than in legitimate 
allopathies. The natives use many plants in their medi- 
cines, and some of these may perhaps be worthy of the 



MEDICINAL HERBS. 253 

attention of more civilized practitioners. They understand 
the best season for getting the different kinds, so as to 
preserve their virtues for medicinal purposes. The Oregon 
grape, a shrub which grows plentifully at some parts of 
the coast, is a favourite medicine, and an article of barter 
among the tribes — as I learnt by noticing the native lads 
in a vessel collecting it, for the purpose of sale, at any 
village on the coast which the ship might stop at. It is 
largely used both by the natives and colonists, for the 
cure of venereal diseases. This grape makes an excellent 
tonic, and I have been assured that its virtues, in the 
complaints mentioned, are undoubted. The astringent 
qualities of the blackberry, and the value of the dogwood 
root, as strengthening medicines, seem also to have been 
discovered by the Ahts. A common tonic is a powder 
made of comb from a wasp's nest, burned and mixed with 
cold water. Hemlock bark is used as a sticking plaster. 
There are many other plants known to the native doctors 
for their curative virtues, and a still greater number of 
empiric medicaments, which they use as favourite specifics 
in different diseases. None of the natives possess suffi- 
cient knowledge to compound medicines, with any appre- 
ciation of their properties, though the sorcerers pretend to 
make valuable mixtures. Their most common way of 
using leaves, roots, or bark medicinally, is to make them 
into a kind of tea, which is allowed to cool before being 
taken. No metallic medicines are used. An infusion of 
the soft young cones of the pines is taken by women for 
various purposes, particularly, I think, to keep them from 
bearing children — an object which is also thought to be 
secured by a medicine made of the scrapings of the inside 



254 LOVE MEDICINE. 

of a human skull. There is a small three-leaved plant, 
with a white flower in May, from which a medicine is 
made that is said to have a sure effect in producing 
abortion. The women mash the roots in water, and drink 
the solution, occasionally, once or twice a day. So far as 
I know, the natives are not acquainted with many poisons, 
though some of them pretend to such a knowledge, in 
order to frighten others of their tribe. They poison deer 
with the roots of a climbing species of convolvulus. [Of all 
the medicines used on the coast — and these are beyond 
enumeration, for the Indians seem to have a medicine for 
everything — the love medicines are by far the most numer- 
ous. Every doctor or doctoress has a favourite specific, 
which is rubbed on the body as a means of attraction, or 
placed on the garments of those on whom it is intended 
to operate. Among the medicines is a decoction that will 
make a man cry, and a well-educated half-breed woman, 
who disbelieved the superstitions of her mother's people, 
candidly declared to a friend of mine that she had faith in 
this medicine. The different medicines used by the Ahts 
are kept secret, and it is most difficult to get any informa- 
tion from them with respect to their medical practice. If 
you ask the old women or doctors, they will either not 
answer, or will intentionally mystify you. They will speak 
on such a subject only to those for whom they have the 
highest respect, and who they believe will not take advan- 
tage of the information to damage the practice of those 
possessed of the secret. We laugh at such things, but 
have we nothing of the same kind among ourselves ? Are 
not English physicians as jealous ? How often are rural 
druggists asked for love powders ? And do not herbalists 



MODE OF TREATMENT. 255 

believe in the virtues of certain herbs as fully and some- 
times as absurdly, as the neglected and untaught Vancou- 
verian ? In all the tribes, as before mentioned, the old 
women are the ordinary nurses and doctors, but in serious 
cases the sorcerers are sent for to expel the evil spirit, 
which is supposed to have occupied the patient's body. 

Many observances are connected with the giving of 
medicines, and greater efficacy seems to be attributed to 
the mode of administering than to the medicine itself. I 
saw a case of bowel complaint treated in a curious way. 
Having drank a decoction of some leaf, root, or bark, the 
sick person sat naked on his couch, and the doctor, firmly 
pressing his hands on each side of the body, rubbed with 
his thumbs till the patient became pale and sick, accom- 
panying the work with a low song; then, finally, raising 
his hands so as to join the fingers above the patient's 
head, he blew through them, and the sickness, or the 
evil spirit, was supposed to be blown away. An English 
trader on the coast told me afterwards that he attributed 
the preservation of his life on one occasion at Pacheen 
to this mode of treatment, when the usual remedies for 
constipation had failed to relieve him. Among the Ohyahts, 
a few years ago, there was a young woman, deformed and 
of diminutive stature, who had a high medical reputation. 
A native presented his leg to her. which she grasped at 
the knee, and rubbed, as would a Malvern doctor. On its 
being remarked that she did not cry nor groan, as usual 
with native practitioners, the patient explained aside that 
she was quite skilful in her work, but that if in his case 
she cried or groaned during the operation of rubbing, her 
charge would be a blanket, instead of a fathom of small 



256 ABANDONMENT OF AGED PERSONS. 

beads, and lie could not at that time afford a blanket. As 
long as patients are not hopelessly sick the women seem to 
treat them kindly, but their singing and howling must 
distress a sick person's nerves. Work in the house goes 
on as usual, and no attempt is made to lessen noise. The 
cracked voices of the old nurses produce a very effective 
discord ; but, to make matters worse (though they believe 
they are bettering them), friends occasionally join in a 
dreary, piteous song, and keep time to it with sticks on 
the sides of the house. It is characteristic of a savage to 
want fortitude in bodily sickness ; he never fights against 
disease, but sinks at once languid and helpless ; and it is 
amidst bad smells, smoke, laughter, and the crooning of 
hags, that his stricken body is expected to regain its 
health. The sorcerers rely partly on the actual means of 
cure already mentioned, but principally on incantations 
and the necromantic influence which they are supposed to 
exert through the medium of small bits of bones, metals, 
and feathers contained in their pouches. Their most 
absurd requirements are superstitiously observed. A 
patient will travel fifty miles to consult the sorcerer or 
doctor of a friendly tribe, if he has a good name, and will 
pay him handsomely if he succeeds in his cure. 

The practice of abandoning aged persons, or those 
afflicted with lingering disease, was lately quite common 
among the Ahts. Before satisfying myself on this point, I 
had believed that this inhuman custom was confined to those 
savage tribes which, being forced to wander over extensive 
districts in pursuit of game for food, and obliged to be at 
all times ready to fight an enemy, were unable to carry 
with them, in their rapid marches, persons infirm from 



NEGLECT OF INVALIDS. 257 

age or sickness, and children of defective formation.: But 
the practice is common among the tribes on this coast, who 
are seldom in want of food, and who never move their 
encampments but for short distances, and the custom, I 
think, rests simply on the unwillingness of the natives to 
be troubled with the care of hopeless invalids., 1 It is not 
much worse, as a proof of the insensibility of the human 
heart, than the manner of treating insane persons was 
in Scotland, and other civilized countries, before lunatic 
asylums were established. ; ' The victims among the Indians, 
as stated above, are not always aged persons ; young and 
old of both sexes are exposed when afflicted with lingering 
disease. A father will abandon his child, or a child his 
father. In bitter weather a sufferer has been known to 
have been taken to a distance from the encampment, and 
left unsheltered, with a small quantity of water and dried 
salmon. No one is permitted to add to the allowance, or 
to show attention to the miserable invalid ; his own rela- 
tives pass him by in the*" woods with perfect indifference. 
Individuals thus abandoned occasionally recover and return 
to the village, but more often they perish wretchedly, and the 
wild beasts devour them, I In opposition to this indifference, 
an eyewitness told me of the frightful manner in which the 
parents of a young girl who died show r ed, on that occasion, 
their excessive grief. As soon as life had departed they 
screamed, and frantically seizing the body by the hair, 
arms, and legs, threw it about the house till they w r ere 
quite fatigued; then, after a time, they placed it on a 
couch in a sitting posture, to await burial. 



17 



( 258 ) 



CHAPTEK XXV. 
USAGES IN BURIAL. 

Usages in Burial — Appearance of the AM Burying-Grounds- 
Burial of a Chief. 



Let not that ugly skeleton appear ! — Dryden. 



The Aht tribes differ somewhat in their modes of burial. 
They have no stone tombs, and neither burn nor inter 
their dead. The usual practice is to place deceased men 
of rank and young girls in rudely constructed boxes, which 
are fastened upon trees at a height of about twelve feet from 
the ground. A white blanket is thrown over the box, and 
four or five blankets, or pieces of calico, are hung upon a 
neighbouring tree. These blankets are torn in many places 
—either for the purpose of showing griefj or of spoiling 
them so that they should not be worth stealing. Another 
tree is draped with strips of blue blankets. The coffins of 
the highest chiefs, and sometimes also those of well-born 
infants are hoisted to a great height from the ground. A 
child which has only the name given to it at its birth is 
buried differently from a child which has received a second 



DISTINCTIONS OF RANK. 259 

name. The one with two names is put higher up the tree 
than the others. Old women, and men and boys of no 
rank in the tribe, are wrapped in worn blankets or mats, and 
simply left upon the ground. No grave is dug to receive 
their bodies ; a little of the earth is removed, and they lie 
there covered with sticks and stones; occasionally a worn-out 
canoe is used for a coffin. As among the people in remote 
parts of our own country at present, the days of mourning 
among the Ahts often end in a festival. A poor man of 
rank, wishing to bury his wife or child with the usual cere- 
monies, has been known to postpone the funeral for many 
months, until he obtained the means of giving a feast and 
distributing property. When a death becomes known in a 
native village, all the women begin to wail and continue 
lamenting for several hours. The near relatives of the 
deceased blacken their faces, and put on mean apparel. 
Little time is lost in conveying the body to the grave. 
Every tribe has a burial-place or places — generally on an 
islet or point of land — set apart for this special purpose, 
and these are never desecrated even by hostile tribes. The 
corpse, wrapped in a blanket and placed in a canoe or 
box, is conveyed to the burial-ground by the deceased 
person's friends, who are accompanied by many or few 
canoes, according to his rank or popularity during his 
lifetime. The whole of the dead man's personal effects 
that have not been given away before his death are 
deposited with him — except his best canoes, his house- 
planks, and fishing and hunting instruments, which, with 
any slaves he may have had, are inherited by the eldest 
son. If his friends are very superstitious they burn the 
dead man's house with all its contents, or they remove the 

17—2 



260 SUPERSTITIOUS CUSTOMS. 

materials, and build the house in another place. These 
usages in burial among savage tribes may be supposed to 
spring from sentiment, or some strange imagination ; but, 
beyond the exhibition of a certain natural regret and 
instinctive respect for the dead, I think we shall err in 
investing the burial customs of the Aht nation with much 
significance. The habit of suspending the remains of 
young girls and men of rank upon trees originated 
probably in the desire of preserving the bodies from 
wolves and other wild animals ; and for the same 
reason islands were preferred as burial places.* The 
natives bury a man's personal effects with him, and burn 
his house, in the fear that if these were used, the ghost 
would appear and some ill consequences would follow. 
Burning the house may have been practised at the first 
in order to guard against the spread of infectious diseases. 
I have not found that any articles are deposited in burying 
places with the notion that they would be useful to the 
deceased in an after time, with the exception of blankets 
(see " Eeligion "). Such a belief, however, exists, I have 
heard, among the tribes farther north on the coast of 
British Columbia, and it is possible that the Ahts may 
have derived the custom from them without any thought 
of its meaning. An islet used as a native burial-ground 
has generally a wretched look. The most appropriate idea 
of a burying ground is associated in my mind with some 
hill-side far from houses, or among old trees near a rocky 
shore — the grass being wild and unshorn, not trimmed, nor 

* A tradition exists in a district of Sutherlandshire in Scotland, that, 
owing to the ravages of wolves in disinterring bodies, the people were 
obliged to use the precipitous island of Handa as a safer place of sepulture. 



NATIVE BURYING PLACES. 261 

the place made into a flower-garden by art. But the 
burying places of the natives on this coast are too forlorn 
to please even the eye of one who does not care to see the 
bright flowers blooming in these sad places of rest. Frag- 
ments and piles of old canoes, boxes, boards, paddles, 
blankets, and other articles cover the surface. Here and 
there, rude coloured wooden carvings are placed near the 
bodies of chiefs. The labour of carving these images, 
when a sharp shell or a piece of bone was the only 
instrument available to the carver, must have been great. 
You may see a wooden figure which stands grimly contem- 
plating the skull of an enemy placed in his hand ; another, 
famous as a speaker in his lifetime, is represented with an 
outstretched arm ; a third grasps a wolf. I once saw 
canoes daily visiting at twilight, for several weeks, one 
of these burying places, where they remained till past 
midnight. The visitors lighted a great fire and fed it 
with oil, gumsticks, and other combustible materials, and 
they wailed loudly at intervals during the whole time. 
The death and burial of the deceased, who in this case 
was a person of high rank, were thus described to me : — 

The w T hole tribe had assembled in the house, and a friend 
of the sick person, in a loud and grave tone, announced 
that his relative was breathing his last. He then recounted 
his generous acts and deeds of daring, and intimated that 
the dying man w r ished to bequeath all his personal effects 
to his tribe. There was a contrast between the brave 
history of this chief and the poor creature who lay on a few 
mats, breathing heavily, his eyes glazed and his features 
pinched and pallid, from disease and exhaustion. The 
distribution next began, in which each person shared 



262 TOKENS OF MOURNING. 

according to his rank. About an hour after life had 
departed, messengers went round to the different houses 
to give notice of the funeral. All the women in the village 
began to wail loudly. The men remained stern, sad, and 
silent. The corpse, wrapped in a blue blanket, was put 
into a canoe, which moved slowly from the shore, accom- 
panied by about ninety canoes. Having reached an islet, 
a native climbed a large tree, and after various ceremonies, 
the body — which, in the meantime, had been placed in a 
box— was hoisted up and secured to a lofty branch. Long 
speeches were afterwards made in praise of the deceased, 
whose death, it was stated, should be honoured by a human 
sacrifice. A small neighbouring tributary tribe was accord- 
ingly visited by an armed party, which returned in a d%y 
or two with several heads. These, it was stated, had not 
been taken by force, but had been demanded and given as 
a necessary sacrifice on the occasion of the great warrior's 
death. Such human sacrifices, happily, are now of rare 
occurrence. 

The natives have periods of mourning, but whether 
definite or depending on the will of the mourner, I cannot 
say. They cut the hair, as a mark of respect for the 
dead. The men seek solitude while mourning, but the 
women display their grief openly. In their houses the 
women often talk about friends who have died ; how they 
were respected ; what great things they did ; how good 
they were : and, as long as four or five years after their 
death, becoming sad during such conversations, the old 
women go outside, and sit wailing for clays. It seems 
odd to an Englishman that a woman should sit by herself, 
crying for so long a time, without any one taking the least 



A FATHERS GRIEF. 263 

notice of her. The men do not indulge in such long 
drawn-out sorrow ; but their grief is sharp, as they have 
strong natural affections. I remember an old Ohyaht's 
grieving for his eldest son, who was drowned. The 
mourner's hair was cut close, the body and face blackened, 
tattered blankets wrapped round him, (sackcloth, indeed, 
and ashes !) and all the while he piteously wept. There 
is a heartrending expression in an Indian's grave hard 
face distorted by grief. Tears did not come often to his 
relief, and now and then he ceased his wail, and sat still, 
all his emotion " contracted in one brow of woe." The 
body of the son had not been found, and the old man, with 
a few friends, carried to a resting-place in the forest two 
^.edar boards, — a sort of bier, I suppose, — on one of which 
was a small porpoise, over which the other board was 
placed, which bore the roughly traced representation of a 
man. After the funeral, the bereaved father divided all 
his own property among those present. 



( 264 ) 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Miscellaneous — Giving Names to Persons — Description of a Feast where a 
Name was Given — Indians have some Standard of Correct Speech — 
Aht Names for Different Winds — Few Memorials of an Older Time — 
Rock Carving on the side of Sproat's Lake — Imperfectness of Indian 
Traditions — Pipes — Secret Fraternity among the Tribes on the Coast. 



But much — much more than this I could declare. — Mace. 

K ? c 

At their birth Aht children receive a name, and another 
name is afterwards given to them by guests brought together 
by the father for this purpose. Individuals are allowed to 
change their names when they please. One man in ten 
years may have ten different names, such as Kill-whale, 
Take-down-tree, Make-canoe, Shoot-flying-bird. Generally, 
notice is given by announcing the alteration at a feast, which 
simple announcement is considered sufficient when the 
change of name is unaccompanied by any increase of rank ; 
but when so accompanied, the name is conferred, together 
with the dignity, by the tribe at a special meeting. The 
name of the principal chief is sometimes changed to mark 
events of importance to the tribe, and occasionally he 



GIVING A NEW NAME. 265 

assumes the name of a deceased chieftain of another 
friendly tribe. This accounts for the otherwise curious 
fact observed by navigators, viz. : individuals of different 
and perhaps distant tribes bearing the same names, such 
as Wick-an-in-ish, Maquilla, Hy-you-pen-uel, Makouina. 
The relinquished name is never mentioned, and if young 
persons use it unthinkingly they are immediately checked.* 
On the introduction of a new article which the natives 
have not seen before — a common occurrence since the 
colonization of the island — a discussion takes place about a 
proper name for it, and some person of good judgment in 
such matters is appointed to settle the name. Every tribe 
has one or two of these nomenclators. A list of Aht names 
for persons and places will be found in the appendix. 

I was present on one occasion of giving a new name to 
the son of a man of rank in his tribe. The house was 
cleared at ten o'clock in the forenoon, soon after which the 
guests arrived. During the speech which the father 
delivered, two female slaves sang and rattled on a tin instru- 
ment, and at its conclusion a crier announced in a loud voice 
the names of the guests. To each of these a present 
was thrown, which was large or small according to the rank 
of the recipient, and the esteem in which the giver held 
him. My share was a small basket of potatoes, a fathom 
of large blue beads and four marten skins. After the dis- 
tribution the host made another speech, stating the object 
of the meeting, which was to raise his son in the esteem of 



* There is a high mountain, called Kloquiltsah, on the east side of the 
Alberni Canal, the name of which is never mentioned by the Indians in 
passing, lest a strong wind should come from the mountain and upset their 
canoes. 



266 AHT NAMES FOR WIND8. 

his tribe, and to obtain for him a name and a degree of 
rank. He then asked the guests to vote this rank — which 
was of a trifling nature — and to choose a suitable name for 
his son, which was done after -some discussion. I noticed 
that the name, after being decided upon, was several times 
repeated by different persons, apparently with the object of 
settling its proper pronunciation. Correct pronunciation 
is more esteemed by the natives than might be supposed. 
That they have some standard of correct speech is evident, 
from the readiness of the children to ridicule a stranger 
who mispronounces native words, and also from the care 
with which a native repeats any word which the traveller 
seems to be desirous of remembering or noting down. 

I will here mention the Aht names for the winds. As 
the Aht Indian knows nothing of the compass points, he 
names the winds in a way that is difficult for a stranger to 
understand. In different places the wind of the same 
name will not have the same direction. The name is not 
dependent upon an undeviating direction, but is given 
for some other cause : for instance, wind might blow at 
different times in two directions, inland, from the sea or 
coast ; yet the two winds — as they really would be — would 
be called by only one name by the natives, as coming from 
the sea or coast. Of course the same inaccuracy would 
take place if they fixed upon any other natural object — 
lake, river, &c, — in relation to which to give a name to 
any wind. Ew-uttyh and Eiv-ahtokak, are native names 
for the same wind — the former name being given when it 
blows gently, the latter when it blows strongly. These 
winds blow straight down the upper part of the Alberni 
Canal, and though the canal before reaching the sea 



ART NAMES FOR WINDS. 267 

changes its direction, still a wind blowing straight down 
this lower part of the canal is called by the natives the 
same name as the wind blowing down the upper end, 
though the wind is in reality very different. In thus giving 
the same name to winds from different quarters of the 
compass, the Ahts seem deficient in that observation of 
nature which in many respects is so wonderfully developed 
in savages. If they used the term Ew-uttyh merely to 
denote a night wind without any reference to direction, 
they would display no want of savage perception — the latter 
portion— uttyh — of the word meaning night ; but they use 
the word so as to confound diversity of direction. This word 
probably originally meant a night wind, but as the night 
breeze is gentle, it was afterwards applied to any gentle 
wind of a certain direction, whether blowing by day or 
night. 

The generic Aht word for wind is wikseh. Eiukstis, 
at Alberni, is the ordinary breeze up the canal, which 
exhibits its most characteristic phase on a summer after- 
noon. It is probably the name generally given on the coast, 
to the landward breeze that sets in from the sea during 
the daytime in the summer months. Toochee is the wind 
that brings ships down the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and 
may, therefore, be considered as ranging from east to 
south-east. Huch-leetlh brings vessels from the north end 
of the island towards Barclay or Nitinaht Sound, and is, 
therefore, a north-west wind, as the natives have no other 
idea of a ship sailing except "before " the wind. Their 
canoes, from deficiency of keel, will not sail " upon " a wind. 
Tokseilh is the name given to a strong wind from the sea, 
which blows straight towards the shore ; it probably ranges 



268 NO RECORDS OF A PAST PEOPLE. 

from south to south-west. Ewksah is the name for a 
gentle wind from the same direction. This wind is con- 
sidered by the natives to be distinct from Tokseilh and 
ail other winds. In speaking to a white man, the Ahts 
would probably call the Tokseilh a great Ewkstis. None 
of these names correspond with our compass points, except 
accidentally. On describing to the natives the remoteness 
of the country I had come from, they inquired if the man 
who blew the winds from his mouth lived there. 

No glyphics, traces, or records of a past people have 
been discovered on the coast. The historical value of a 
native tradition disappears after two generations, under a 
load of grotesque imaginings. Already the destruction of 
the " Tonquin" is ascribed to Quawteaht, and supernatural 
beings are described as having been concerned in it. My 
own memory among the natives is, I daresay, connected in 
their minds with a chief spearing saJmon in the happy 
land of Quawteaht. The time of their father's father 
seems to be about the limit of these people's trustworthy 
traditions. The imperfectness of their traditions may be 
judged of by their not haying among them any knowledge 
of so extraordinary an event as the building, launching, 
and fitting out of a large schooner close to a village in 
Nootkah Sound, by Captain Meares, about eighty years 
ago. I see that Hall, in his lively book, Life icith the 
Esquimaux, states that, in his opinion, the traditions of 
the Innuits are accurately handed down through centuries. 
If this is the case, these hyperborean savages must be 
very unimaginative to keep a true record for so long a time, 
without a written language. The only rock carving ever seen 
on this coast is on a high rock on the shore of Sproat's lake 



USE OF TOBACCO. 269 

behind Alberni. It is rudely done, and apparently not of 
an old date. There are half-a-dozen figures intended to 
represent fishes or birds — no one can say which. The 
natives affirm that Quawteaht made them. In their 
general character these figures correspond to the rude 
paintings sometimes seen on wooden boards among the 
Ahts, or on the seal-skin buoys that are attached to the 
whale and halibut harpoons and lances. The meaning of 
these figures is not understood by the people ; and I 
daresay, if the truth were known, they are nothing but 
feeble attempts on the part of individual artists, to imitate 
some visible objects which they had strongly in their 
minds. 

The Aht Indians are fond of tobacco, but they have no 
medicine-pipe, nor do I think they have among them the 
marked superstitious pipe usages by which most of the 
North-American Indian tribes are distinguished. They 
formerly had plain cedar pipes (kosh-kuts), devoid of 
ornament, but there were also to be found in all the tribes 
the ornamental blue-stone (Tshimpsean) pipes, which had 
been obtained in traffic with the Northern Indians. The 
present Aht name for tobacco is quish-shah, their word for 
smoke. Tobacco has been so long known to the natives 
that they can hardly explain what material they smoked 
before they had it ; but they probably, in former times, 
made use solely of the leaves of the small shrub which is 
to this day mixed with the tobacco in their pipes, for the 
purpose of diminishing the intoxicating effect. It is cus- 
tomary, after meals, to pass the pipe round among the 
guests. This, however, is merely a compliment, arising 
from the high price of tobacco ; and I should not wonder 



270 THE TSCLAHLLAMS. 

if, to some extent, the sacred associations connected with 
the pipe, which generally prevail among the North- Ame- 
rican Indians, had originally no deeper origin than the 
scarcity of the smoking material. The Ahts do not smoke 
through their nostrils, though they are occasionally seen 
doing so ; and they have not the placidity of the English- 
man in smoking, but smoke with short laboured puffs. 
I may remark here, that Dr. Wilson — {Prehistoric Man, 
vol. ii. p. 17) — is wrong in stating that the Clalam Indians 
inhabit Vancouver Island, and that they have elaborately 
carved blue clay stone pipes of their own manufacture. No 
such people live in Vancouver Island ; but there is a tribe 
called the Tsclahllams, on the south side of the Straits of 
Fuca, which probably is meant. This tribe speaks a 
kindred language to the Ahts, and is a cedar-using tribe, 
which probably would only possess carved stone pipes as 
articles of traffic received along the coast from the powerful 
Tshimpsean tribes inhabiting Queen Charlotte Island, and 
the shores of British Columbia to the north of Vancouver 
Island. 

At the risk of being thought too critical, I may say 
here that I doubt if the " Tawatin Indians on Fraser 
River " (whoever they may be) ever executed as an original 
work the ivory carving of a whale copied into Dr. Wilson's 
second volume, at page 22. The outline is too simple 
and truthful for an Indian work of art ; it is superior to any 
representation of a whale which I have observed among 
those tribes most devoted to whale fishing. Indians living 
near the mouth of Fraser Eiver may possibly enough have 
seen whales in the Gulf of Georgia, but none of the gentle- 
men in the Hudson Bay Company's service recollect them 



SECRET FRATERNITY. 271 

as great whale-fishers. The carving, probably, either came 
to the Indians of Fraser River from some of the whaling 
tribes on the outside coast, or was copied by the " Tawa- 
tins " from the " Jonah-picture " of some priest. 

I should not omit in this account to notice that there 
is a secret association or fraternity among the Aht natives, 
composed of persons who are united for some purpose which 
has not been discovered. Meetings are held at different 
places about once a year, in a house covered round in 
the inside with mats. All non-members and women are 
excluded. As many as seventy natives from various tribes 
on the Vancouver shore, and also on the American side, 
have been known to attend one of these meetings. It is 
not a tribal affair, chiefs affair, nor a medicine man's 
affair ; these persons may or may not be members of the 
association, but unless they are members, they are not 
permitted to enter the house, and seem to be quite ignorant 
of what is going on. A meeting sometimes lasts for five 
days. The members wash and paint themselves, and wear 
their best clean blankets, and now and then come out of 
the house to wash and put on fresh paint. The proceed- 
ings inside the house are conducted in silence ; there is no 
singing nor noise during the meeting of this secret asso- 
ciation. Is this fraternity likely to be in anyway connected 
with freemasonry ? Freemasonry has been displayed in 
quarters least suspected. 



( 272 ) 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

EFFECTS UPON SAVAGES OF INTERCOURSE WITH 
CIVILIZED MEN. 

Effects of Intercourse between Civilized and Uncivilized Races — Real 
Meaning of Colonization as regards Aborigines— Want of Definiteness 
in the English Colonial Policy — Moral and Physical Agencies con- 
cerned in Disappearance of Native Races — Decay of Tribes in their 
Isolated State — Evidence from my own Experience and Observation j 
■ — Inconsiderateness of Un travelled Writers— Aborigines, as a rule, not 
Harshly Treated by English Colonists — What are the Diseases and 
Yices of Civilization ? — Course of Operation of the Destructive 
Agencies following Intercourse with the Whites. 



" They had heard it said that it was a law of nature that the coloured 
races should melt away before the advance of civilization. He would tell them 
where that law was registered, and who were its agents. It was registered 
in hell, and its agents were those whom Satan made twofold more the children 
of hell than himself." — Dr. Selwyn, Bishop of New Zealand, at Manchester, 
October 7, 1867. 



In this chapter I will offer some remarks — the result, as 
before mentioned, of long-continued and close observation 
— on the subject of intercourse between civilized and 
uncivilized races. The Bishop of New Zealand must use 
other language than the above, if he desires to influence 
the opinions of reasonable men on this most difficult 



INTERCOURSE OF RACES. 273 

subject. One would not expect that, in a colonizing 
country like England, there would be such differences of 
opinion among practical statesmen — as Parliamentary- 
debates show — with respect to the real effect of colonization 
upon aborigines. There is, in my mind, little doubt that 
colonization on a large scale, by English colonists, prac- 
tically means the displacing and extinction of the savage 
native population. By the expression " savage native 
population," I distinguish between the rudest untutored 
races and aboriginals of finer native races more capable of 
civilization ; with these latter, or with an improved rem- 
nant of them, it is not yet shown that English colonists, 
or their descendants, will not intermix. I hope it may be 
shown in New Zealand that such intermixture is possible. 
But, as far as experience has taught us, it is extremely 
improbable that any large population of English descent 
will mingle their blood, and grow up side by side, with any 
race that differs widely from them in character and in 
civilized culture. In all dominant races, indeed, there is, 
to a large extent, an aversion to intermixture with other 
people — whether civilized or uncivilized. For instance, 
the English colonists have not yet shown any tendency to 
amalgamate with the descendants of the French in Canada, 
who live close to them in the same country, and are on 
almost the same level of civilization, and whose women are 
most attractive. 

It is important that correct ideas should prevail as to 
the effect, in all its bearings, of colonization upon native 
races, for difference of opinion on this subject leads to 
various evils in our colonial policy, of which not the 
least is recrimination between the English and Colonial 

18 



274 INTERCOURSE WITH CIVILIZED MEN. 

Governments. The theory of an inevitable extinction of 
aborigines is regarded by many with repugnance, from the 
fear that such a theory must involve the harsh and 
neglectful treatment of the natives. But I do not think 
there need be any such apprehension ; a clear view of the 
impending extinction of the inferior people would probably 
rather stimulate English settlers to acts of justice and 
humanity towards them. It would alsp give a much- 
needed definiteness to the imperial policy as regards native 
races in the colonies. 

Several agencies- — moral as well as physical — are con- 
cerned in the disappearance of aborigines before intruding 
civilized settlers, and these agencies must be properly 
estimated by the inquirer who seeks to form a right opinion 
on the subject. The problem he has to solve is a difficult 
one, which requires facts, and not theories, for its solution, 
and, unfortunately, we possess few accurately observed facts 
that bear on the question. These, indeed, will always be 
hard to obtain, owing to the want of opportunities by 
travellers, and the difficulty of observing precisely the 
particulars of change which accompany the continual inter- 
mixture of two different races — the one civilized, the other 
not. 

Perhaps the first question of all, in reference to savages 
of a low class, will be, whether there are not in them — as 
races — the elements of natural decay leading to the extinc- 
tion of the race, which elements, with increased speed and 
intensity, work out their destructive tendencies, if the 
people consort habitually with a greatly superior nation ? 
West of the Rocky Mountains, it is certain that the expe- 
rience of the Jesuits in California, and of the earliest 



DECAY OF ABORIGINES. 275 

settlers in the American and British territories on the 
North Pacific, affords proofs of the tendency of the savages 
to extinction, even before white people went amongst them. 
It was observed by the first fur-traders who entered different 
parts of New Caledonia — the present British Columbia — 
as I have heard from their own lips, or from those well 
acquainted with these pioneers — that the natives were 
rapidly decreasing in numbers.* This was before any 
number of civilized men had visited the country, and also 
before the introduction into it of ardent spirits, or the 
diseases produced by a mixture of races. The natives w T ere 
decaying, and had been decaying, in their isolated state. 
Similar evidence is furnished by the history — so far as it 
is known — of the Aht people themselves. In 1778, 
Captain Cook rated the population of Nootkah village, in 
Vancouver Island, at 2,000; and Captain Meares, ten 
years later, confirmed this estimate in the main, and stated 
that the population of all the villages in the Sound at 
Nootkah amounted to between 3,000 and 4,000. The 
aggregate of the latter is now hardly 600 souls, yet the 
natives have remained in almost a primitive state, only 
visited occasionally by a ship of war or a trading schooner ; 
they have had plenty of food and better clothes than they 
possessed prior to their knowledge of blankets, and their 
number has not been lessened by any epidemic, nor by the 

* " Only a fur- trader," is a depreciatory phrase that has been heard in 
the colony in connection with gentlemen in the Hudson Bay Company's ser- 
vice. I must speak of the class as I found them, during a long acquaintance ; 
cheerful and hospitable, and uncommonly well read and intelligent. Not to 
mention names, many a happy, long-to-be-remembered evening I have 
spent in their houses, for which I can make no return but this passing 
acknowledgment. 

18—2 



270 THE WRITERS EXPERIENCE. 

division or emigration of any portion of the tribes. The 
people have not abandoned themselves to the use of 
intoxicating drinks, though, no doubt, ready enough to do 
so ; nor have their women — unchaste though they are — 
ever visited any of the settlements for the purpose of 
prostitution. These are instances of native races having 
decayed quickly, though possessing abundant means of 
food and shelter, living removed from civilized settlements, 
and left undisturbed to follow their own customs. 

My own experience on this point may be added, as 
regards native tribes who decayed in the presence of white 
men, though well treated, and though ardent spirits were 
not introduced among them. I refer to the tribes among 
whom I lived in Nitinaht (or Barclay) Sound. Probably 
these people would have declined in number had the settle- 
ment never been formed near them. As already stated, 
I was the resident head of a large civilized settlement, 
established on the west coast of Vancouver Island, among 
savages who had seen only a few passing white men before 
my arrival. Having founded the settlement, in the face 
of opposition on the part of the Indians, as described at 
the beginning of this book, I had an opportunity of know- 
ing them from the first, and of becoming acquainted with 
their fierce and rude natures. During the whole time 
that I was among these savages — a period of over five 
years — no instance of wanton ill-usage by the settlers 
occurred ; on the contrary, the natives were treated kindly, 
and their condition was at first improved by the establish- 
ment of the settlement. Their houses, food, and clothing 
were better than they had formerly been. They fished and 
hunted as had been their wont in the old time. For any 



INDIANS AT ALBEBfTL 277 

work which they did, they were well and regularly paid. 
The use of intoxicating liquors w T as forbidden to every one 
in my employment, and though it was impossible altogether 
to exclude ardent spirits, yet owing to the remoteness of 
the place and the peculiar approach to the harbour — as I 
was legally authorised and even bound to prevent the 
introduction of spirits — I was able to make the settlement 
as nearly a temperance settlement as any village of two 
hundred colonists of English descent could be made, under 
the best regulations and most favourable conditions for 
making the attempt. A clergyman resided in the place, 
who, though he did not succeed in establishing school- 
instruction on a large scale, yet learnt the language of the 
aborigines, and visited among them for the purpose of 
administering the simple medicines and comforts which 
the sick natives required, and were willing to receive. 
Taken as a whole, the settlement at Alberni probably was 
one in connection with which the Indians, not being com- 
pelled to abandon their old ways of life, enjoyed nearly all 
the advantages of a neighbouring civilization, with a com- 
parative exemption from the distressing evils which are 
supposed necessarily to attend it. 

What was the effect on the aborigines of the presence 
of this settlement ? At first no particular effect was 
observable ; the natives seemed, if anything, to have 
benefited by the change in their circumstances. They 
worked occasionally as labourers, and with their wages 
bought new blankets and planks for their houses. • As a 
rule, the Indians did not abandon the blanket as an article 
of dress, though some of them took a pride in wearing, for 
a short time, the white men's cast-off clothing. They 



278 EFFECT OF WHITE SETTLEMENT. 

acquired a taste for flour, rice, potatoes, and other articles 
of food that were sold to them at low prices, and thus, on 
the whole, probably spent the first winter after the arrival 
of the colonists more comfortably than usual. It was only 
after a considerable time that symptoms of a change, 
amongst the Indians living nearest to the white settle- 
ment, could be noticed. Not having observed the gradual 
process — my mind being occupied with other matters — 
I seemed all at once to perceive that a few sharp-witted 
young natives had become what I can only call offensively 
European, and that the mass of the Indians no longer 
visited the settlement in their former free independent 
way, but lived listlessly in the villages, brooding seemingly 
over heavy thoughts. Their gradual shrinking from 
association with us, when first observed, caused a little 
alarm ; but I found, on inquiry, that it did not arise from 
ill-will. The fact was that the curiosity of the savage had 
been satisfied ; his mind was confused and his faculties 
surprised and stunned by the presence of machinery, steam 
vessels, and the active labour of civilized men; he distrusted 
himself, his old habits and traditions, and shrank away 
despondent and discouraged.* Always suspicious, it now 
became the business of the Indian's life to scrutinise the 
actions of the whites, and speculate apprehensively as to 
their probable intentions. He began soon to disregard his 
old pursuits, and tribal practices and ceremonies. By and 
by it was noticed that more than the usual amount of sick- 

* The same feeling, in a comparatively small degree,— a beaten, cowed 
feeling, with a sense of some loss of self-respect, — must have been expe- 
rienced by most men, at some change of their work or condition in life 
which has brought them suddenly among men, vastly their superiors in 
general, and also in special intellectual ability and force of character. 



OA USES OF DEC A Y. 279 

ness existed among the Indians, and particularly among 
the Indians who lived nearest to the white settlement. 
This increased ill-health was not caused by spirits, syphilis, 
or any of the other destructive agencies which are, I think, 
often erroneously described as the peculiar accompaniments 
of a high state of civilization. The disquiet produced in 
the mind of the natives by the presence of the settlers 
perhaps had something to do with it ; at all events sick- 
ness increased during the second winter after our arrival, 
and many of the natives died from dysentery, and from 
a species of small-pox. Though no trustworthy anterior 
death-rate can be referred to for the purpose of comparison, 
I believe that mortality among the natives began to increase 
soon after the formation of the settlement, and a high death- 
rate continued during the five years that I was there. I may 
repeat that this did not result from ill-usage, nor from the 
excessive use of ardent spirits, nor from debauchery ; but 
from other causes, among the chief of which, according to 
my observation, I would name — the effect of a change of 
food, and the despondency and discouragement produced 
in the minds of the Indians by the presence of a superior 
race : the latter being the principal cause. Nobody 
molested them ; they had ample sustenance and shelter 
for the support of life, yet the people decayed. The steady 
brightness of civilized life seemed to dim and extinguish 
the flickering light of savageism, as the rays of the sun put 
out a common fire. 

The conclusions to which these observations point, if 
correct, ought to modify in some degree the opinions of 
untravelled persons who attribute the decline and extinction 
of native races in our colonies, to the injustice and cruelty 



280 ALLEGED CRUELTY OF COLONISTS. 

of the intruders, and to the diseases and vices which 
they carry with them. On these opinions, which appear 
to be generally entertained, I will comment, but shortly 
only, as my space is limited. I will take them in the 
following order : — 1. Injustice and cruelty. 2. Diseases. 
3. Vices. 

As regards the first point, alleged cruelty on the part 
of colonists, it may, I think, be affirmed, as an historical 
fact, that very little violence has been used by English 
settlers generally in superseding weaker races. This will 
appear to any one who, laying aside prejudice, studies 
impartially, as I have endeavoured to do, the dreary 
records, from the earliest time, of actual life upon the 
frontiers of our different colonies, including those now 
comprehended within the United States of America. 
Many instances of harsh treatment by English settlers 
can no doubt be proved, and such instances occur at the 
present day ; still, the history of the intercourse of our 
countrj^men with aborigines, taken altogether, is credit- 
able to us. Sufficient allowance is not always made for 
Hie circumstances in which settlers in savage countries 
are placed. Their situation is widely different from that 
of the mercantile emigrant or clergyman, who goes to the 
colony upon a salary. The poor, self-dependent emigrant, 
after disembarkation, finds himself in a position from 
which he cannot retire, for he has little money, and a 
wide sea extends between the new land and his mother- 
country. The English settler acts in this emergency 
according to the instinct and vigour of his race. Not 
content — like the lazy savage — to be a fisherman or 
hunter, he takes a firm hold of some object for his labour 



THE SETTLERS POSITIOX. 281 

that presents itself to his grasp, and is prepared imme- 
diately to defend his acquisition, and to protect his family, 
if assailed. When the acquisition, as often happens, is 
a piece of waste land, unvalued and really unowned by any 
individual, the intruder generally feels, in defending it, 
that he is in a different position from that of a mere 
labourer. His duty and work are peculiar, as he is one of 
a body of men by whose efforts the surface of a neglected 
country has to be redeemed. The wrong of intrusion, if 
it is a wrong, is quickly turned into a right, under these 
circumstances. But I almost think, as already stated in 
Chapter II., one may reasonably say that civilized settlers 
have a right to occupy the land of a savage people on 
certain conditions, and that, therefore, they are justified in 
defending their occupation against the original so-called 
occupiers, now transformed, by the course of events, from 
patriots into aggressors. Now, as no authority nor law 
could prevent the peaceful, though determined, progress 
of these intruding settlers, after having gained a footing, 
they must, in all cases, be permitted to spread and cover 
the surface of the country, according to their increase and 
characteristics. Eoads, fields, villages, towns will appear. 
And the savage — who all the time may have been kindly 
treated — will disappear. 

Then, with regard to the second point — the diseases of 
emigrants, which are said to destroy aborigines — these, no 
doubt, w T ill be the diseases of the mother-people, changed 
somewhat in their manifestations and effects by the 
mixture or contact of different races. To speak plainly, 
on a matter of great concern — bodily diseases — I doubt if 
many writers have clear ideas in their minds as to what 



282 "VICES" OF CIVILIZATION. 

they mean by diseases which, they say, " are carried 
among savages by civilized men." What are these 
diseases thus carried from England by emigrants — 
diseases, contagious in their nature, yet harmless in a 
crowded ship — destructive on shore to the aborigines 
only? Phthisis, small-pox, syphilis — what? I believe 
the last-named disease alone is meant ; but, as this disease 
prevails among savages generally in their primitive con- 
dition, though in a milder form than among civilized men, 
the introduction of it, even if it occasionally happens, 
cannot be charged against the colonists as a race. Syphilis, 
and several other diseases, assume a peculiarly virulent 
chai*acter when the two races commingle. More than 
this cannot, I think, in relation to this subject be said 
of it. 

Let us now consider the third point, the "vices" of 
an intruding people, which, as alleged, destroy a native 
race. Here, again, I think, writers err in not stating their 
meaning with sufficient distinctness. The vague expres- 
sion, " vices of civilization," so frequently used, must refer 
(in addition to the particular vice which, in its effects of 
disease, I have, in fact, discussed under head two,) to the 
English vice of drinking, and its pernicious example ; for 
no other of our too many vices would be likely to cause 
the rapid disappearance of aborigines. The use of ardent 
spirits is not a vice ; it is the excessive use — the abuse of 
them — that is vicious ; and I doubt if the mere example 
of drunkenness on the part of colonists, bad as it is in 
itself, is greatly injurious to the natives, though, under 
.special circumstances, it might become so. To some 
extent it may be injurious, as confusing their moral sense 



INFLUENCE OF LIQUOR. 283 

by the spectacle of a superior man degrading himself ; but 
practically, the example of drunkenness on the part of the 
white man is not so decisively the cause of vice on the part 
of the natives as is often supposed. If every white man in 
a settlement abstained wholly from intoxicating liquors, 
still the savage, w T hen once he had tasted spirits, would, 
as a rule, drink them to excess whenever he could obtain 
them. What is really objected to, then, under the name 
of " vices of civilization," is simply the presence of ardent 
spirits in a colony ; and, stated in these definite words, 
what is the practical force of the objection ? A teetotal 
colony, rigidly excluding spirits altogether, may or may 
not be the only means of saving aborigines from the effects 
of their infatuation for drink ; but the idea is, and will be, 
Utopian, until the habits of the English race change. The 
social habits, dress, food, and favourite beverages of 
emigrants will be the same in the new country as in the 
old ; and, though the liquors used by the settler prove to 
be a source of evil to the native, it is only here and there, 
perhaps, that an individual could be found who would 
abandon their use — one who would order his whole life 
with reference to the influence of his acts upon the 
aborigines, The hard-working emigrants generally could 
not be expected to give up the grateful cordials which they 
and their forefathers had been accustomed to, because their 
lot had been cast among a savage people with ungoverned 
appetites. It is found practically that the habits of the 
mass of the colonists require that ardent spirits should be 
offered for sale in all English colonies. These habits are 
too general and fixed to be altered or much influenced by 
any legislation. Another fact is established, namely, that, 



284 LOSS OF MOTIVES FOR EXERTION. 

notwithstanding the severest penalties, backed by strong 
public opinion of the colonists themselves, against furnish- 
ing Indians with liquor, they obtain as much as they 
desire, on the simple condition of paying for it. Men are 
found who will run the risk of conveying spirits to the 
canoes or houses of the natives. Thus, the question is 
raised as to the utility of prohibitory laws against the 
giving, bartering, or selling intoxicating liquors to Indians. 
Such laws lead to their drinking vile, unwholesome 
mixtures, without in the least restricting the quantity which 
they consume. 

Having stated my views as to the natural work of decay 
(if I am right) affecting the Indians as races, and as to the 
destructive agencies consequent upon intercourse with civi- 
lized men, I will now further remark on the effect thereby 
produced on the Indians themselves. It is a lamentable 
spectacle, and I do not wonder that kindly men, who witness 
the result of such intercourse, are more in the mood for 
declamation than for observation and argument. The 
effect is this : — The Indian loses the motives for exertion 
that he had, and gets no new ones in their place. The 
harpoon, bow, canoe-chisel, and whatever other simple 
instruments he may possess, are laid aside, and he no 
longer seeks praise among his own people for their skilful 
use. Without inclination or inducement to work, or to 
seek personal distinction, — having given up, and being 
now averse to his old life, — bewildered and dulled by the 
new life around him for which he is unfitted, — the unfor- 
tunate savage becomes more than ever a creature of instinct, 
and approaches the condition of an animal. He frequently 
lays aside his blanket and wears coat and trousers, acquires 



EFFECTS OF DRINK ON THE INDIANS. 285 

perhaps a word or two of English, assumes a quickness 
of speech and gesture which, in him, is unbecoming, and 
imitates generally the habits and acts of the colonists. 
The attempt to improve the Indian is most beset with 
difficulty at this stage of his change from barbarism ; for 
it is a change not to civilization, but to that abased civili- 
zation which is, in reality, worse than barbarism itself. 
He is a vain, idle, offensive creature, from whom one turns 
away with a preference for the thorough savage in his 
isolated condition. 

It is during this time of change, immediately after the 
arrival of intruding settlers, that the aborigines in our 
colonies are exposed, for the first time, to the temptation 
of strong drinks. The effect upon Indians of an excessive 
use of the description of ardent spirits which they generally 
get, is such as no one who has not seen can conceive. The 
appearance of an Englishman in a state of intoxication 
gives no idea of the effect of drink upon a savage. It is 
to him a consuming indulgence, producing madness, rage, 
and frantic excitement, followed quickly by disease, languor, 
despair, and death. This lamentable result is hastened by 
several circumstances. Owing to the operation of prohibitory 
laws against selling liquors to Indians, the only liquors 
which they are able to procure are, as above said, of a bad 
quality; these pernicious mixtures are consumed in excess by 
men whose minds are crushed and spiritless. Again, the 
physical constitutions of the drinkers are unused to stimu- 
lants of any description, and are probably affected and 
weakened, at this time of change, by an alteration of diet. 
Further, it has been observed that some unknown circum- 



286 LIABILITY TO DISEASE. 

stances of their habitual contact with a superior people 
render the bodily system of savages specialty subject 
to disease ; particularly, as it appears, to sexual diseases, 
when resulting from the cohabitation of civilized men with 
native women. 



( 28? ) 



CHAPTEK XXVIII. 

CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 

Can Nothing be Done to Save the Native People ? — My View of the Case 
— The Home Government Primarily Kesponsible — Practical Sugges- 
tion as to the Means of Improving Isolated Tribes — Kesults of 
Missionary Work hitherto. 



And patience, experience ; and experience, hope. — Romans, Chap. v. 

The question will now be asked, can nothing be clone to 
prevent or counterbalance the injury to the aboriginal races 
consequent upon the occupation of their country by English 
emigrants ? I am afraid that little indeed can be done by 
governments, societies, or individuals, to preserve savages 
from their seemingly appointed decay, or to improve those 
tribes which have been most in contact with settlers. It 
may, however, be possible to benefit isolated bodies of 
savages by civilized teaching and example, though the 
improvement may not extend to the prolongation of their 
national existence. Alas ! that travellers and missionaries 
have contributed so little solid information towards the 
solving of this problem. Whether the endeavour is part 
of the duty of the Crown, or of the Colonial Government, 



288 THE HOME GOVERNMENT. 

or should be left to the spontaneous efforts of benevolent 
associations, may form a question to some minds. I 
regard the subject in this way. The Home Government 
sanctions and encourages the colonization of a new terri- 
tory. With this sanction, and under the protection of the 
English flag, a society is formed which, in its first stages, 
harbours, it must be admitted, an unusual number of eager 
money-makers, discontented politicians, fugitives from 
justice, and adventurers of all sorts, needy, unscrupulous, 
and immoral. This portion of colonial society has an evil 
influence upon all around it, and, of course, upon the 
character of any neighbouring Indians. To argue that the 
Home Government is not in some degree concerned with 
this, and is not morally bound, either to compel a colonial 
settlement to some adequate measure of counteraction, or 
itself to take the matter in hand, is to say that the parent 
is neither bound to correct the child, nor can be called upon 
to repair the mischief arising from his own neglect. I am 
speaking, of course, of the early stage of a settlement, w T hen 
it would be possible for the Home Government to interfere 
effectually on behalf of the aborigines, before the colonists 
received from the mother country a constitution and inde- 
pendent power of self-government. In granting constitu- 
tions to colonies, the Crown should have insisted on 
provisions as regards the treatment of the natives ; it 
should have reserved to itself a greater authority than 
it is now able to exercise, through its colonial governors, 
in directing the policy of colonial legislatures towards the 
aborigines. The rule of policy which requires that colonies 
must work their own way by their own energies, without 
expecting assistance from the parent country — a rule 



THE DUTY OF GOVERNMENT. 289 

open, I think, from a national point of view, to various 
objections — is one that cannot, with justice, be strained to 
comprehend the treatment of the aborigines. The question 
is not whether colonists shall be assisted to build up their 
own fortunes, but whether certain conditions of their social 
state shall, without any mitigation, be allowed to exercise 
a deadly influence upon their fellow-subjects ; whether 
they shall not be urged or impelled towards some system 
of counteraction which shall cancel or compensate for 
injuries so inflicted upon the native population. As 
already hinted, our best efforts might be futile ; but there 
would be glory in the trial, and there would be some use 
in it, too, if it only showed clearly to the public, how far 
beyond any human capacity are the solemn duties and 
overwhelming responsibilities of an English statesman. 
May God raise up men among us for such work, and give 
them sound minds and the spirit of prayer ! 

It must further be admitted, as regards Vancouver 
Island and British Columbia, that, notwithstanding laws 
for its prevention, a lucrative trade is carried on in 
many parts by the sale of spirits to the Indians. The 
destructive effect of this liquor traffic has been described 
in the last chapter. It is also the case that, wherever any 
considerable number of white men are congregated, there 
seduction, debauchery, and disease become the fate of the 
native females. Other injuries and discouragements, 
already alluded to — which, to a certain extent, are unavoid- 
able—come upon the aborigines, through the occupation 
of their country by the settlers. Their hunting and fishing 
places are intruded upon, their social customs disregarded, 
and their freedom curtailed, by the unwelcome presence, 

19 



290 DISAPPOINTMENT TO BE EXPECTED. 

and often unmannerly bearing, of those who are stronger 
than themselves. Admitting the lawfulness of the surplus 
of over-peopled civilized countries seeking homes, and 
building homesteads in new and thinly inhabited territory 
— admitting also their right to acquire property in such 
territory, in spite of the opposition of savages, who do not 
adequately occupy the land — it is a reasonable claim — a 
claim, indeed, of simple justice — that the injury done to 
the native population, as a whole, should be counter- 
balanced, not according to the Indians' poor ideas of gifts 
of food or blankets, but by a wise and paternal action of 
the Crown, in some practical way, on their behalf. It is 
unlikely, as already stated, that it would be possible entirely 
to prevent the evils mentioned. But it is surely incumbent 
upon those with whom the responsibility primarily rests 
to strive in every way to mitigate these evils ; in such case, 
perhaps, though, in spite of these efforts, many Indian 
communities would be destroyed, others might be bene- 
fited, and perhaps regenerated. 

Much disappointment might be expected as the result 
of any Governmental action. Still, it is probable that 
isolated bodies of savages, removed from intercourse with 
civilization, would to a considerable extent, by their 
improved condition, repay the care and efforts of the 
Government. Not being familiar with the existing official 
machinery of the Colonial Office, and not knowing the 
actual power of interference on behalf of its uncivilized 
subjects still remaining to the Crown, I cannot suggest 
the mode of organising a central authority to direct these 
efforts ; but for practically carrying out the object, I can 
say that it would be advisable to choose a position which 



PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS. 291 

would secure the gradual spread of any good effects which 
might ensue — say a large native village, at a distance from 
civilized settlements, and connected by language with a 
good many neighbouring tribes. Each establishment might 
consist of about five men, carefully chosen in England, on 
verified testimonials of their peculiar fitness. They must 
be men of courage, energy, temper, and proved morality, 
and at least two should be acquainted with some trade or 
occupation, in which they might instruct the Indians — a 
gardener, for instance, would be a most useful man. The 
party should be under the command of one as a leader, and 
they all should undertake to forego the use of alcoholic 
drink ; for moderation in such a thing is not appreciated nor 
believed in by the Indian, who would make his instructors' 
restricted use of liquors an excuse for his own extreme 
intemperance. Great care should be taken to select men 
voluntarily inclined towards such work, and they should be 
sought out by qualified judges interested in the matter, 
rather than obtained by advertisement. It would be an 
advantage for the leader — if he were a man of education, 
temper, and sound judgment — to be authorised to act 
magisterially against any white men coming among the 
Indians for unlawful purposes ; but his commission should 
not extend to the Indians, as they would not, except out of 
personal respect to him, be willing to acknowledge his 
delegated authority. A magistrate in such a position 
should never employ Indian constables to apprehend w T hite 
men ; the latter will not surrender to Indian policemen, 
though provided with a proper official warrant. These 
instructors should not attempt to dictate to the Indians, 
nor seek by trade, nor in any way, to make gain out of 

19—2 



292 RESULTS OF MISSIONARY EFFORTS. 

them ; tlieir influence, which would only come gradually, 
and after a considerable period of experience in, and use of 
the language, would depend on their own prudence, intelli- 
gence, and uniform endeavour to understand the character 
of the natives, and really to benefit them. The general 
duties of these instructors, I would propose to be as follows : 
— to teach the Indians any useful employments and arts 
that they were capable of learning ; to improve their 
moral ideas, and to instruct them in Christian truth, 
as far as possible : in this latter respect, acting as 
missionaries, or at least, preparing the Indians for the 
efforts of the missionary. The annual cost of such 
undertaking would not be more than that entailed by 
liberal salaries to those engaged, and the occasional trans- 
mission of supplies. The outside, or west shore of 
Vancouver Island would probably be, in that part of the 
world, a good place for this attempt, as all the tribes there 
speak one language, and there are few white men on the 
coast. The language and customs of the savages might 
first be studied in the neighbourhood of Barclay, otherwise 
called Nitinaht Sound, and a gradual acquaintance be made 
from that centre with the several tribes of the West Coast, 
until it was seen where actual settlements could be formed 
with the best hope of ultimate success. 

In conclusion, I will name the results, to the present 
time, of missionary efforts among the savages of the north- 
west coast of America, and these efforts, to my knowledge, 
have been zealous, earnest, and unremitting. The reports of 
the missionaries themselves will no doubt afford full informa- 
tion ; but as the result of my own observation, I must state 
that the attempts made by the missionaries, and of which 



PROSPECTS OF IMPROVEMENT. 293 

such favourable accounts have been forwarded to England, 
have, as far as I have been able to judge, had no real, 
sound success, as regards any large body of the people — 
though I know of several apparent conversions of indi- 
viduals. How far the moral condition of the native people 
generally might so far be improved by regular and systematic 
employment — if they would accept it — in various depart- 
ments of agricultural and other labour, as to afford a more 
promising soil in which to sow the seed of Christian 
doctrine and truth, I am not prepared to say. 



VOCABULARY OF THE AHT LANGUAGE, 
with a List of the Numerals. 



An Alphabetical List of Words \ obtained at Nitinaht(pr Barclay) 
Sound, but fairly representing the Language of all the Aht 

Tribes on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, including 
Words invented since their contact with White Men, which 
latter are marked *. 



Ah-ah, yes. 

Aapso, arm above the elbow. 

AapsoonUh, arm-pit. 

Ah-ah-che, eyebrows. 

Ah-ahp-quimulh, to wrestle. 
*Ah-ah-he, a hen. 

Ah-ah-toh, to ask. 
*Ah-asky, a turkey (t. e , ah-ah-hc- 
asky, bald hen). 

Ah-ah-puk, industrious. 

Ah-ahtl-tsooivit, equal. 

Ah-cheitsah, which (of goods). 

Ah-chuk, who (of people). 

Ah-kook, this. 

Ah-mah, a large grey diver. 

Ah-toosh, a deer. * 

Ah-hummus, cheeks. 

Ali-hup eemilh, shoulder. 

Ah-peelsoo, in the centre ; central. 

f The syllabic division of words 
the use of the letter (or breathing) " 
objected to by some as unscholarlike 
a whole, the orthography and the ar 
ligible to the reader. 



Ahousaht, name of a tribe. 
* Ah-ohpkali-kook, sugar. 
*Ah-wutsetsos, a long diuing-table. 
A-thlah, to spue. 

A hk-shitl, a little below high water. 
Ahtl-atlamaluxhool, to pull out the 

hair of the chin. 
At-hohmi!h, curly hair of man or 

beast. 
Aichk, good-looking. 
Aichomyts, thumb. 
Ahm-ooye, yesterday. 
Ahmaytlik, to-morrow. 
Amewauts, a special name of the 

white-headed eagle before the 

head becomes white. 
Akk-aht-a ? of what tribe ? 
Amenoquilh, a comer. 
Am mitt y, name. 

in this vocabulary, and perhaps also 
h " to denote the broad sound, may be 

and superfluous ; but I hope that, as 
rangement of the words will be intel- 



^m 



VOCABULARY OF THE ART LANGUAGE. 



Ammus-hulh, the bosom. 

Annays, short (z, e., not long). 

Annah-ah, to gamble. 

Anni, look ! 

Anni-mah, I see (in answer to anni). 

Annoos, a crane. 

Apuxim, hair upon the face. 

Appoonit-nas, mid-day (also hoop- 

cheilh). 
Appoon-uttyh, midnight. 
Asky, bald (also askumilh). 
Assits, a wasp. 

Ash-sup, to break a string or rope. 
Atlah, two. 

Atla-newk-tsuuk, the fork of a river. 
Attalhy black (also uttalh, with 

which compare uttyh, night). 
Attoh, a beaver (probably connected 

with attalh, black). 
Atsaykuts, the throat (also win- 

nayk). 
Aychim, an old man. 
Aychukasin, an ancestor. 
Ay-is, a plant from which some sort 

of string is made. 
Ay-entuk, always. 
Ay-ook, a lake. 
Ay-ha-ik, to cry. 
Ay-yak- kamilh, fifth lunar month 

from November, inclusive. 
Ayh-huk, to speak or cry (also to 

weep). 
Aylh-mukt, nettles. 
Aytl-chauna, by-and-by. 



ex- 



B. — This letter occurs seldom, ex- 
cept with the Nitinahts, who 
pronounce almost every M as B. 

Chay-her, the place of spirits. 

Cha-puts, a canoe. 

Chd-tay-up, to cut off with a knife. 



Chah-hatshitl, to be astonished, 

baulked, startled. 
Chak-hots, Indian bucket. 
Chahk-chahka, to press, to press 

down. 
Chapook, a manned canoe. 
Chastimit, a mink. 
* Choo-chuk, a spoon. 
Choochk, all (also ish-ook). 
Choop, the tongue. 
Chookwah, come. 
Che-che-che, the teeth. 
Che-is, salutation to a woman. 
Chees-cheesa, a dance and song by 

women. 
Cheh-neh, not to know. 
Cheh-neh-mah, I do not know. 
Chee-ckitl, to pull or haul. 
* Chechamutlpyik, a boat (connected 

with chee-chitl, to pull). 
*Chechik, trigger of a gun. 
Chekoop, husband. 
Cheetuk, impudent: 
Cheetashitl, cold (applied only to 

personal sensation). 
*Cheetayik, a saw. 
Cheetsyih, large iron fish-hook. 
Cheeskuksootl, to shave. 
Chay-tann-os, name of a hill. 
Cheetamah or cheetuk, side-boards 

of an Indian house. 
Chee - yahkamilh, the thirteenth 

lunar month, counting from 

November as the first. 
Chimmus, a bear. 
Chimmin, large wooden hook for 

halibut. 
Chimilh, bed, including bedstead. 
Chimmitsas, the right hand, or right 

side of a person or thing. 
Chin-e-palh, to wrestle by holding 

the hair. 
Chu-uk, water. 
Chuk-she, push it along. 



VOCABULARY OF TEE AHT LANGUAGE. 297 



*Chukswih, a waistcoat. 
*Chupoox, brass. 
Chulcha, nails or claws. 

Eh-eh-she, be quick ! 

Eh-shctl-che t go ! 

Eiyemmah, a great many. 

Eiyalh, wing feathers (py-yalh 
being small feathers). 

Ei-yeh, many, a great many. 

Ei-yeh-chinnik, a great many to- 
gether. 

Eesh-toop, things, small articles of 
property. 

Eetdchles, uphill. 

Eetdtus, downhill. 

Eetowayes, to go to a distance and 
stay a long time. 

Eechmah or Eechuk, the light fixed 
on the canoe for night-fishing. 

Eehinakoom, ear pendant. 

Eethloohoolh, the lips. 
*Eishkook, a bottle. 

Eilchupamik, the common squirrel. 

Ennitl, a dog. 

Eher, great, large. 

Ehersooquitl or Ehersookl, brave. 

Enakoiisimilh, twelfth lunar month 
from jSTovember. 

Ew-uttyh, a gentle wind. 

Ew-ahtokuk, a strong wind. 

Eivksah, wind from the sea. 

Ewkstis, wind blowing up an inlet. 

Ey-yahkshitl, to forget. 

Ey-yohquilh, green blankets. 

Ey-yohquk, green. 



n/ 



Ha-ha-ook, a lizard. 

Hd-oom, food. 

Hd-ook, to eat. 

Hd-quatl, unmarried woman. 

Hd-quatl-is, young girl or daughter. 

Hd-witl, ebbing tide. 

Hah-cet-leck, lightning. 



Hah-han-noo-yik, boastful. 
ttah-yew-itl, strong ebbing tide. 
Hah-ho-pah, to admonish. 
Hah-ohksdcheel, a generation. 
Hahts-eh-tuck, all (also ish-ook 

and choochk). 
Hdn-nah, naked. 

Hat-tees, to wash all over ; to bathe. 
Heah-hay-hah, to breathe. 
Hee-seesah, to beat with a stick. 
Hemakah, look out ! 
*Himmix, lard. 
Hhnmik-kahoo, gooseberries. 
Hinnasetsos, above, resting upon 

(relating to position). 
Hinnays, the head of an inlet. 
Hismilh, to bleed at the nose. 
Hissin, a bright red berry. 
Hissit, red. 
*Hissits, an axe. 
Hissamis, blood. 
Hissoolh, bloody, covered with 

blood. 
Histokshitl, to come ; (wustokshitl 
sooa, i.e., wusseh-histokshitl-sooa, 
whence come you ?) 
His-wah-sooih, to bleed out of the 

mouth. 
Hit-tas, there, yonder. 
Hit-to-myn, sandhill crane. 
Hittahktlee, the base, the under 

side. 
Hlem-eh-Mem-eli-hali, wings. 
Hlook-tupt, veins or arteries. 
Hloh-pilh, a bridge. 
Ho-utsachitl, to return. 
How-komah, a wooden mark. 
How-wWi, a chief. 
How-weuil, to cease, to stop 
Ho w - waykl, hun gry , {hd-oom 
food : wayk, not). 
*Hoh-ha-um 1 a percussion cap. 
Hoop-ahlh, thimble berries. 
Hoop-peh, to help. 



298 VOCABULARY OF THE AHT LANGUAGE. 



Hoop-palh, the moon. 
Hoop-cheilh, midday ; (also ap- 

poonit-nas). 
Hokqueechis, to cover with a vessel, 

hat, or any stiff covering. 
Hohpta, concealed (hohpta ooyak 

kamis, news to be kept secret). 
Howtsshitl, to sprinkle. 
Howksap, to upset, turn over. 
Holm., the blue grouse. 
Hoik, the willow grouse. 
*Hokidskook, biscuit (klyklydskook, 

bread). 
Hoxem, a goose. 

Hooweulh, to dance (also ooyalh). 
Houtsachepasym, to lend. 
Howchuklisaht, name of a tribe. 
Hucheemt, berries. 
Huch-leetlh, west wdnd. 
Huchimsuksah, sl girl's brother 

(kathlahtik is a man's brother 

only). 
Hummootisque, a bone. 
* Huppah-yukkaik, sl brush. 
Hys-shitl, the wild black currant. 
Hy-yeskikamilh, third lunar month, 

counting from November as the 

first. 
Hyn-nas, high, above, upper. 
Hynnas-itl, to climb (up a tree or 

mast, not a hill). 
Hynnoolh, the face. 
Hynmuxhel, the mouth. 
Hytoktl, worthless, untrue. 
Hytokstootl, to tell a lie. 
Hy-yakshitl, not to understand. 
Hy-yu, ten. 
Hy-yus-atyup (or kutsquykup), to 

lessen, to diminish. 
Hy-ye, serpent, snake. 



Ik-moot, old (of things). 
Im-hah, shame. 



Im-pig-ivalkinkl, the person walk- 
ing second in a long line (the 
g soft). 

Im-tah, unable. 

Immich-sahta, the forehead. 

Innimah, the nipple, milk. 

Innik, fire. 

Innik-quilh, to make a fire. 
*Innik-ayik, a stove. 

Innikseh, firewood ; thence any sort 
of felled wood. 

In-nits, around, surrounding. 

Ish, and, with. 

Ish-ook, all (also hahts-eh-tuck). 

IsMm-yoap, to increase, or to set in 
order (I am not sure which). 

Lhinnik, w r ith, together with. 

Ishinnikquaht, next door. 

About a fifth of the whole vocabu- 
lary is formed of words begin- 
ning with K; and of these more 
than half commence with Kl. 

Kaa, equivalent to " hand it me," 
" let me look at it." 

Kddshitl, to die. 

Kddsup, to wound. 

Kah-hakkit, or Kah-huk, dead. 

Kah-ohts, a nephew. 

Kah-yupta, the arm or leg. 
* Kah-pooh, a coat. 

Kah-oots, a large Indian basket. 
*Kahchuk, a fork. 

Kahcheik, needle (also neecheik). 

Kahsitimilh, fourth lunar month, 
counting November as the first. 

Kapshitl, to take openly or by 
force, to ravish. 

Kalh-kow-wih, bramble-berry. 

Kathlahtik, a man's brother. 

Kats-hek, a long Indian dress. 

Kaivkushup, a disease in the eyes. 
*Kayhaik, a telescope. 
*Kay-holk, sight of a gun. 



VOCABULARY OF THE AHT LANGUAGE. 299 



Kaytsah, small rain. 
*Kaytshitl, to write. 
KayhashitI, to look through or along 

a thing ; to take a sight. 
Kayeep, to clean away, to take from 

one place to another. 
Kayutly a long time ago. 
Keek-qulh, submerged. 
*Keitseh-kaytsah, writing. 
*Keitselk> paper, letter, book. 
*Keitsetsos, a writing-table. 
Kannatlah, a wolf (also sahook). 
Kinnitsmis, a bruise. 
Kistokkuk, blue. 
Kittleyn, a crack, a shrink. 
Kikleenkshitl, to be wrecked, to 

sink (of a ship) . 
. Klah-choochin, a stranger. 
Klah-chit-tuhl, to doctor the sick. 
Klah-hix, a box. 

Klah-huk-sik, the present genera- 
tion. 
Klah-klah-tanym, notch for the 

fingers at the end of the spear 

shaft. 
Klah-klah-lym, a foot (also kleesh- 

kliri). 
Klah-klah-nakoom, hand. 
Klah-oh, another, some more. 
Klah-ooye, now. 
Klah-haytsoh, sl box with lid fitting 

over the sides. 
* Klah-klah-pukkah, to hammer a 

nail. 
Klah-koh, thank you (also oosh- 

yuksomayts). 
Klah-oh-appi, something instead of 

that (a word used in bartering). 
*Klah-pukmah, a nail. 
Klah-quay, to beseech. 
Klah-oh-quaht, the name of a tribe. 
Klah-ich-nus, to-day. 
Klah-ich-tins y young (of few days). 
Klah-oh-quil, day after to-morrow. 



Klah-oh-quil-ooye, day before yes- 
terday. 

Klakkamupt, a species of pine tree. 

Klakkas, sl tree. 

Klak-shitl, spring. 

Klakkupt, grass. 

Klahts-lah-kupt-sem, leaf. 

K/ak-she, a parting salutation. 

Klathlakenkatoo, the cramp. 

Klattomupt, yew tree. 

Klayhah-pannich, to go out for a 
paddle and to see, or to paddle 
and look about (compare yet- 
spannick). 

Klay-hook, purple. 

Klayhuk, to paddle, to go by 
paddling, to go as a steamer. 

Klayhutshitl, thin. 

Klayhulk, Indian matting. 

Klayhupper, a small sea fish. 

Klayohtshunkl, to commit fornica- 
tion (of a woman). 

Klayt-klayt-wha, to stride, to 
measure by stepping. 

Klay-ukil, look out ! take care ! 

Klay-chitl, to shoot with a bow. 

Klayhmah, large red-headed wood- 
pecker. 

Klaytsawhk* a rat. 

Kleehua, to laugh. 

Kleeklaymis, to hunt, to pursue 
game. 

Kleekklayhy-yeh, a marten. 

Kleeshitl, just before sunrise 
(kleesook, white). 

Kleeshklin, a foot. 

Kleesook, white. 

Kleetcha, man in the stern of a 
canoe. 

Kleetshitl, to steer. 

Kleetchaik, a rudder. 

Kleetsuppem, a sail. 

Kleetsmah, stuff to sit on in a canoe. 

Kleehooamis, clouds. 



300 VOCABULARY OF THE AHT LANGUAGE. 



* Kleekqushin, boots. 
*Kleeshklukkaik, trousers. 
Kleeselh, white blankets. 
Kleetstoop, blankets (generic). 
Kleeteenek, small cloak or cape. 
Kleetsimilh, muffled up. 
Kleetyik, small fish-hook. 
Kleetseechis, to cover with a hand- 
kerchief, paper, or other yield- 
ing substance. 
Kleklemahktlee, a grasshopper. 
Klennut, a wooden wedge for 

splitting trees. 
Kletshitl, to split with a wedge. 
Klet-kleh-kan, tortoise. 
Kliklenasm, a bracelet. 
Kliklenastim, an anklet. 
Klik-klik, a hoop. 
Klilh-mah, firm, firmly knit. 
Klimmukkah, to be sleepless. 
Klimmukshitl, or klohksahp, to 

wake up another. 
Klinnika, crooked, having one bend 

or crook. 
Klinnik-klinnika, very crooked, 

having many bends. 
Kloh-nym, an elk. 
Kloat-luil, to forget (also ey-yahk- 

shitl). 
Klohseah-how-witl, highest water. 
Kloochim, mussels. 
Kloochtsque, mussel shells. 
Klo-quiltsah, name of a mountain. 
Klookloothlalh, clean (of persons). 
Kloothlalh, clean (of things). 
Klohk-pah, warm, hot. 
Klohpshitl, to wash the face. 
Kloksem, sl mast (compare klakkas, 
a tree, and for the termination, 
kleetsuppern, sl sail). 
Klooch-hunk, to commit fornication 

(of a man). 
Klooch-inkl, just before sunset. 
Klooch-moop, sister. 



Kloopidg, autumn. 

Klooshah, dry (also klooshook). 

Klooshist, dry salmon. 

Kloosmit, a herring. 

Kiootsinnim, board for a paddler to 
kneel on. 

Klooshtsoque, thirsty. 

Kloothlaht, a good workman. 

Klooth-kloothlsik, to adorn. 

Klooths-oquitly kind. 

Klootsmahy married woman. 

Kloquisutlhl (or moolquisutlhT), a 
little above low water. 
*Kly klydskook, bread, flour. 

Kochtsa, three. 

Koh-hoo, a black duck. 

Koh-pilh, to hang, to hang up. 

Koh-quenapich, the small wood- 
pecker. 

Ko-ich-itl, to grow. 

Ko-mah. the real bearded cod. 

Kolh, a slave. 

Kooh, ice. 

Koquahowsah, a seal. 

Koo-nah, gold. 

Koot-kootah, to beckon with the 
hand. 

Kopeik, the forefinger. 

Kosh-kuts, a pipe. 

Koquawds-athly, proud. 

Kotowaut y half. 

Kotsas, the left hand or left side. 

Koulh, morning, sunrise. 

Ko-us, a man. 

Kouts-mah, the soul; also a shadow, 
a reflection. 

Kowik, thievish. 

Kowllh, to steal. 

Kowih-tuppa, to open. 

Kow-wih, the salmon-berry, 

Kow-weept, salmon-berry bush. 
*Kow-wits, the potato. 
Kulkah, the little finger. 
*Kluk-kaifi > a key. 



VOCABULARY OF THE ART LANGUAGE. 301 



Kluk-sap, to unbind, to untie. 

Klumma, a great wooden figure. 
*Kluppay-uk, scissors. 

Klyemmi, equivalent to " give 
more" (often used in sale or 
barter). 

Ko-ishin, a raven. 

Kok-koop, a swan. 
*Kokkumyahklassum, a pin. 

Koomits, a skull. 
*Koquawtselh, a portrait. 

Kotsik-poom, Indian pin for blan- 
kets. 
*Koquissunna-pyik, corkscrew. 

Kow-wishimilh, ninth lunar month, 
counting November as the first. 

Kulkin-tupah, strawberries. 

Kuskeep. a star-fish. 

Kumatychea, to leam. 

Kumotop, to understand. 

Kummetkook, to run. 

Kusseh, the eyes. 

Kutcheim, the palate. 

Kutsquyup (or hy-yus-atyup), to 
diminish, to make smaller. 

Ky-yu-men, a panther. 

Ky-yah-chitl, adrift. 

Kyen, a crow. 

Ky-yahtsa, drift, cordage. 



Lebuxti (or hklimuzti), the heart. 



Mah, equivalent to " take it," when 
you wish to hand a person any- 
thing. 

Mahkatte, an eatable liliaceous 
root. 

Mahtsquim, a housefly. 

Mamakshitl, to fasten the dress or 
blanket by tying. 

Mah-mahte, a bird. 

Mah-pees, a bat. 



Mahs or mahte, & house, a house- 
hold, a collection of houses. 
Maht-mahs, the entire population. 
Macheelh, houseward, to the house. 
Macheetl, to bite. 
Mah-mayksoh, eldest brother. 
Mahk, a whale, or porpoise, or 
large fish caught by the Indians 
in summer. 
Mahlh, antlers, horns. 
Makptulh, an enemy ; hostile. 
Mahts-kulch, ugly. 
Makquinnik, to buy. 
Mammathleh, a white man ; any 

"person not an Indian. 
Mathlook, cold (of the temperature). 
Maylhi, like, similar. 
Mayetlkuts, a small boy. 
Meetsin, shade. 

Mees-sook, to smell (also myshitl). 
Meet-lah, rain. 
Memetuk-mahk, a spider. 
Mibyeh, a spear shaft. 
*Mitwha, screw of steamer. 
*Mookshitl, the hammer of a gun. 
Moolquisutlhl (or kloquisutlhl) , a 
little above low water. 
*Mooshussemayik, a hinge. 
Mooshussem, a door, a lid. 
*Mootsasook, gunpowder. 
Mooh, four. 
*Mook-wah, steam, also, or " you- 
wha." 
Moolshitl, flood-tide. 
Mooshetuppa, to shoot. 
Moostatte, a bow. 
Mootsmahuk, a bear skin (probably 

the old word for a bear). 
Moozyeh, a stone, a rock. 
Mowah, to carry. 
Mowah-ishinnik-sup, to add, to 

carry to. 
Much-koolh, covered with dirt, 
dirty. 



302 VOCABULARY OF THE ART LANGUAGE. 



Much-kulh, dirt. 
Muchpelsokunhl, bitter. 
Muk-koolh, blind. 
Muktoop, string. 
Mutamis-inkl, to fly upward. 
Mutshitl, to fly. 

Mutlah-sah, to tie or bind together. 
Muschim, the common people, as 
distinguished from men of rank. 
Mutlshitl, to bind round. 
*Mutlsahp, to lock (of a door). 
*Mutlema-yaoom., the iron hoop of a 
cask or tub. 
Muttlyn, string bound round any- 
thing. 
Myshiil, to smell (also mees-sook). 
My-yalhi, the principle or personifi- 
cation of sickness. 

Na-nash, to beg, to ask for. 
Nahay (also nahais) give, or to 

give. 
Nah-ah, to hear. 
Nah-ayx-oh, uncle. 
Nah-uktl, to feel. 
Nah-tuch, the stock duck. 
Nah-pee, light (or moonlight only). 
Nanetsah, to see. 
Nas, sun, or day. 
Nashook, strong. 
Nashay, or nashetl, or natsoh, or 

nanetsah, to see. 
Nach-komuklinkl, to look back. 
Nay-ye-ee, echo. 
Nay-ay tlik, to illumine. 
Neetlach, to quarrel, to squabble. 
Neecheik, a needle (also kah-cheik). 
Neeputto, thread. 
Neeuktl, deep laden (of a ship or 

boat). 
Neetsah, the nose. 
Netlah-kahte, a rib. 
*Nenehktook, peas. 
Nismah, a country, territory, land. 



Nitkin, roe of fish. 

Nisk-shitl, to sneeze. 

No'hah-shitL to bury. 

Noochee, sl mountain. 

Noonook, to sing. 

Noop, one (also tsow-wauk), 

Noop-pooh, six. 

Noochuk, an egg. 

Noomas, twins. 

Nootimilh, round. 

Nooquits, pitch stick, resinous 
wood. 

Nooshah, or nooshitl, to make great 
gifts ; to entertain for the pur- 
pose of making gifts. 

Noo-wayk-soh, father. 

Ny-yuk-patto, cradle. 

Ny-yuk-uk, a baby. 

Nukshitl, to drink. 

Nuk-amayhamma, I want some 
water. (The Indian cannot break 
up this sentence into its com- 
ponent words or roots, he con- 
siders it one word.) 

Oh-kookem, cross piece of the 

paddle. 
Oh-puk, calm, describing absence 

of wind. 
Oh-kokapem, a cork. 
Oh-kumha, fine weather (sometimes 

used for " the sky " ). 
Oh-oh-kamith, seventh lunar month, 

counting November as the first. 
* Oh-puxoonlh, a button. 
Oh-quinnik, a box with double 

sides. 
Ohpka, to whistle. 
Okshitl, to make water. 
Oochka?nis,c\ouds(sihokleehooamis). 
Ooquislistiky equivalent to " let me 

see," give me time to consider. 
Ooshoolh, proud, scornful. 
Ooyalh, to dance (also hooweulh). 



VOCABULARY OF THE ART LANGUAGE. 303 



Outlohkamilh, sixth lunar month, 
counting November as the first. 

Okkuk, what ? 

Oochkuk, cloud, fog, mist. 

Ook-you, friend (also oowah-tyri). 

Oomahkut, a colour. 

Oomayksoh, mother. 

Oon-nah, how much ? 

Oo-oo-eh, to hunt, to pursue game. 

Oo-ooshtuk, to work. 

Oop-sup, hair. 

Ooshimitso, to whisper. 

Ooshyaksomits, an expression of 
civility, somewhat equivalent to 
" Thank you." 

Oosteilh, low down, deep down, 
below. 

Oostepittup, to bring down, to place 
in a lower position. 

Ootachitl, to go (also ootsashitt). 

Ootsmupt, a large tree. 

Oouktlay, to finish. 

Oowah-tyn, friend. 

Oowahtsoh, third finger. 

Oowayup, to begin. 

Oowayuttah, to precede. 

Oowhun, at the end. 

Ooyahkkahs, to relate. 

Ooyakkamis, news. 

Ooye, soon, presently, lately. 

O-uk-ooye, a long time ago. 

Ootsamo, Ootsequin, Ootsooquetta, 
Ootsuksemhuk. Words in fre- 
quent use, but the exact meaning 
of which I cannot get with cer- 
tainty. 



Pah-quin, the skate fish. 
Pah-pay, an ear ; also, the nipple 

of a gun. 
Payh-eyk, to praise, to speak well of. 
Pacheetl, give. 
* Pah-pahts-uktl, a loaf. 



Pat-kook, things, small household 

property. 
*Pay-ha-yek, a looking-glass. 
* Pay-pay-huyxm, glass, a window. 
Pe-pe-sa-li, to work. 
Pet-ek-say, the body. 
Pish-shuk, bad (also wikoo). 
Pishaht, bad workman. 
Pilluk-pillukshl, a stone hammer. 
Pooeh, halibut. 
Poulteechitl, sleepy. 
Poh-kleetum, small downy feathers. 
Pooh-pootsah, a dream. 
Potsmis, froth, foam (of the sea, or 

of a person's mouth). 
Pow-wel-shetl, to lose, or to be lost. 
Py-yalh, feathers (eiyalh, wing 

feathers). 

Quaht-sook, to walk backwards 

(yetsook, to walk). 
*Quas-setsos, a chair. 
Quawtlik, come (also Chookwah ! 

sometimes both used together). 
Quawtluk, sea otter. 
Quisaht, the Indian settlements 

beyond You-clul-laht. 
Quaw-te-ik, tired. 
Quawtl quitch, the elbow. 
Quawtoquk, devious, winding (of 

a path or trail). 
Quayktlah, acid. 
Queeahta, pointed. 
Queech-che-is, salutation to a 

woman. 
Queel-queel-ha, to pray. 
Queen-up-shilh, to attract. 
Quees, snow. 
Queeskidg, winter. 
Quequenixo, the arm. 
Quish-shah, smoke (applied thence 

to tobacco). 
Quispah, on the other side. 
Quit-te-yu, to fit together, to splice. 



•304 VOCABULARY OF THE AHT LANGUAGE. 



Quoy-up, to break a stick (ash-sup, 
to break a rope). 



Satsope, a description of salmon. 

Satsope-us, eleventh lunar month, 
counting November as the first. 

Sah-ook, a wolf (also kannatlah). 

Saeemits, a sort of grass or reed. 

Sdsin, a humming-bird. 

Sattoo, fir cone. 

Sak-sak-api, to turn over. 

Seeta, tail of an animal. 

Seekah, sailing, to sail. 

Sewah, we, us. 

Sewahs, ours. 

Seyah, I. 

Seyas, mine (also seyessah). 

Shd-d-tyn, head of the salmon- 
spear. 

Shaytlook, to change quarters (used 
of a general move from one 
fishing or hunting-ground to 
another). 

Sheetla, brake-fern root, an article 
of food. 

Shoh-shitl, rusted. 
*Sikkah-ik, a frying-pan. 

Siskummis, flesh, meat. 
* Sis-s idskook, r ice . 

Sit-si-tehl, an animal, supposed to 
be the marmot. 

Si-yak, far away. 

Si-yah-yelh-syah, a superlative ex- 
pression of the same. 

Soo-a, thou. 

Soowah, you, ye. 

Sooas, thine. 

Soowahs, yours. 

Sooquitl, to bring. 

Soosah, to swim. 

Sootcha, five. 

Soo-widg, the early part of summer ; 
from taoowit, salmon. 



Sush-toop, beast or brute, including 

all fourfooted animals. 
Sinna-mooxyets, a berry growing 

on rocks ; probably thus derived 

— sy(ah), na(tsoh), moox(yeh), 

yets (ook). 
Sloo-ook, roof-boards of a house. 
*Soo-oolh, a kettle. 
Suchkahs, a cowl. 
Summets, a squirrel. 

* Sunday koilh, the church at Al- 

berni — from " Sunday," and tuk- 
koilh, " to sit ")• 

Tah-chahy lowest water. 

* Tah-haytlim, ramrod. 

Tah- klahdkamilh, eighth lunar 

month — from November as first 

month. 
Tah-hap-e-chauna, by-and-by (also 

aytl-chaund). 
Tah-kay-uk, straight. 
- Tah-kokstootl, to tell the truth. 
Tah-koktl, correct, true, undoubted. 
Tah-pym, cross stick of the canoe. 
Tah-tupwin, a spider (also memetuli- 

malik). 
Tah-mook, a kingfisher. 
Tahkoivin, stone hammer shaped 

like a dumb-bell (also pilluk- 

pilluhshl). 
Tahkshitl, to spit. 
Tahktsque, spittle. 
Tam-mook-you, a single knot. 
Tannah, male infant. 
Ta-ta-put-hi, to consider, think 

over, as in a meeting of the tribe. 
Tahtsche, stomach. 
Tay-quilh-yik, a chair. 
Tatti-itskookquum, the second finger. 
Tattoos, the stars. 
Tautneetsin, descendants, posterity. 
Tayahtaqudta, to make a mistake. 
Tayilh, sick. 



VOCABULARY OF THE AHT LANGUAGE. 305 



Tay-chitl, to throw (also taytl-tay- 
yah). 

Tay-ish-tish, small hatchet. 

Taytosah, to let fall unintention- 
ally. 

Tchoo, an exclamation inciting to 
immediate action. 

Tchoo-upitlay, stop, stop working. 

* Teech, well, convalescent. 
Teechilh, alive. 
Teelhah, bait (for fishing). 

* Teemelh-oomah, a towel. 

* Teena, a file. 
Teetl-tee-yah, to rub. 
Telhoop, the cuttle-fish. 
Telk-toopj fish (the general term). 
Tennak-mis, mosquitoes. 
Tennanakshitl, to bear a child. 
Tepittup, to throw down or bring 

down (oostepitup, to bring 

down). 
Tim-mel-soo, a bell. 
Tookamis, bark of a tree. 
Toop-kulh, black blankets. 
Toh-muktl, dark. 
Toh-pelh, the ocean. 
Tok-poolch, salt. 
Tohuk, afraid. 
Tokseilh, very high wind from the 

sea. 
Toksohquin, an owl. 
Toqukamilh, seal-skin. 
Tow-quos, gills of a fish. 
Toochee, the east wind. 
*Too-mees, coal. 
Toopkoop, black. 
Toop-shitl, evening. 
Tooshko, the dark-brown cod. 
Tootah, thunder. 
Tsaemupt, oak-wood. 
Tsaimpfs, water-grass. 
Tsakoomufs, ground soil, earth. 
Tsa-chu-uk, island (tsakoomuts 

and chu-uk, water). 



Tsapin, a brown-headed diver. 
Tsa-lsa-lach-tem, the toes. 
Tsaoolhah, a wave or billow. 
Tsasnoolh, bank of a stream or 

river. 
Tsaykoomts, the neck. 
Tsaychitl, to throw water. 
Tsetsellukenakoom, the fingers. 
Tsaykents, a small white-marked 

duck. 
Tsay-uk-palh, to wrangle. 
Tseeatlsoo, to obey. 
Tseka-tseka, to talk, to talk much. 
Tseuma, full. 
Tsayhatte, an arrow. 
T-sayk-im-en, iron. 
* Tsaykipkaylhool, the smithy. 
Tsay-yuk-koom, Indian wooden 

cup. 
Tseetsahuktl, crab-apple. 
Tseetsiktahsim, finger-ring. 
Tseilh, Indian things for making 

fire — lucifer matches. 
Tset-tset-tikatsim, seeds. 
Tsimha, toothed pole for catching 

small fish. 
Tsoh-pohitI, highest water. 
Tsupquaw, to boil, (of water, 

in trans.) 
Tsikhotyn, white-headed eagle. 
Tsistoop, a rope. 
Tstitsannha, angry (only used of a 

wordy anger. The anger of the 

heart and countenance is ex- 
pressed by we-uk). 
Tsokstelh, to fight with fists. 
Tsok-kits, twenty. 
Tsootsinnik, to wash the hands. 
Tsoo-wit, a description of salmon. 
Tso-quitl, to wash, to wash things. 
Tsootshhuh, to wash the feet. 
Tsots-hoiva, to fight with a 

knife 
Tsow-wauk, one (also noop). 

20 



306 VOCABULARY OF THE ART LANGUAGE. 



Tsow - wauts - hamma, a person 
having only one wife or one 
husband. 
Tsow-wista, a canoe manned by 

one, or one man in a canoe. 
Tso-youk, to wash the hair. 
Tsu-uk, a river (chu~uk 9 water). 
Tsow-wauchinnik, one walking 

alone, unaccompanied. 
The words compounded with Tsow 
are used also with other numerals, 
as, atlahtshamma, a person with two 
wives or husbands ; moohista, a canoe 
with four men; atlahchinnik, in com- 
pany with one another ; kochtsachin- 
nik, with two others. ( See numerals.) 
Tup-win, to gird, to girdle. 
Turquasseh, to sit down, as on a 

ehair or stool. 
Turqulleh, to sit or squat upon the 

ground (also tukkoilh). 
Tush-she, a road or trail ; also, a 

doorway. 
Tuttayin, to bemoan, to lament 
aloud. 

Uch-inna-his, small (also unnahis). 
Uchispah, this side, this side of 

of (quispah, the other side). 
Ukkaik, a knife. 
Unnah-his-si-yah, near. 
Unnahsatys, a few. 
Upan-wilh, in the middle. 
Upakowr, a point or promontory. 
Up-pi, the back. 
Upitsaska, the head. 
Uttlmah, he, she ; only used when 

the person is in sight. 
Utsimixem, eye-lashes. 
Utsin, backbone. 
Uttyh, night. 

Wah-haatlsoo, an expression of 
farewell. 



Wah-haslkook, do not stumble ; a 
farewell to a messenger. 

Washitl, to do away, to destroy. 

Waw-it, a frog. 

Waw-kash, a word of salutation. 

Wawkneh, a land otter. 

Waw, to utter a shout. 

Waw-waw, to speak. 

Waw-waw-tsukka, to cough. 

Waw-waw-tlookwah, the bark of a 
dog. 

Wawkoahs, an Indian entertain- 
ment. 

* Waw-waw-shr-kook, turnips. 
Waw- win, to hunt by driving the 

animals together with shouts 

from unseen hunters. 
Wayech, to sleep. 
Weeuk, weak, not strong. 
Weelhussem, a small berry. 
Welshetl, to go home ; to go to one's 

house. 
We-uk, angry, stern (also used for 

" a warrior "). 
Weht, the brain. 
Welsohktl, cunning. 
We-ukseh, a medicine making 

invulnerable. 
Why-ak, that. 
Wish-wish-ulh, blue blankets. 

* Wismah, blacking. 

Win-nayk, the throat (also atsay- 

kuts). 
Whoahtik, able. 
Wik, not I. 
Wiklyt, not, no. 

Wiklitmah, not he ; there is not. 
Wikoo, bad {pish-shuk is the more 

common word). 
Wikseh, wind. 
Wiksim, to scold, to abuse, to drive 

away by scolding. 
Wikmaektlah, to fast. 
Wimmutomah, I do not understand. 



VOCABULARY OF THE ART LANGUAGE. 307 



Winna-pee, to stay, to stop, to 

remain. 
Wishiksuktl, cruel, unkind. 
Witshitl, to nod the head. 
Wusseh, where, whence ? 
Wussemtuk, whence you, i.e., 

where do you come from ? 
Wussokshitl, to cough slightly. 
Wu-wu-puk, lazy. 

Yah-alu affection. 

Yah-ah kloots-mah, to love a 

woman. 
Yah-mah, sal-al berry. 
Yah-uxem, a face pimple. 
Yahk, long. 

Yahkawimmit, long-staying, abid- 
ing. 
Yahkpekukselh, a beard. 
* Yahk-pus, sl proper name, meaning 

bearded man. 
Yahtoop, a whale (also e-eche- 

toop). 
Yatchah, the dog-fish. 
Ydulh, sl word signifying distance. 
Yay-yay-chim, the largest kind of 

whale. 
Yatsetsos, a ladder. 
Yatsquiup, to stamp on anything 

with the foot. 
Ya-uk, pain. 

Yelh, there, out there, out of sight. 
Yetleh, he, she ; only used when 

the person is out of sight. 
Yetseh-yetsah y to kick frequently. 
*Yetseh-yetsokleh, screw steamer. 
Yetshitl, to kick. 



Yetspannich, to walk out and look 
about. 

Yetsook, to walk. 

Yewch-kahta, pointed. 

You-whis, light, not heavy. 

Youquayksoh, eldest sister. 
*You-wha, steam, also or, mook-wha. 

Yuk-yeh-wha, to shake, (trans.) 

Yuk-kaik, a broom. 
*Zah-wha, a wheel. 
*Zoktdds, a cart. 
*Zocktikke, paddle-wheel steamer. 

NUMERALS. 

1. Tsow-wauk or Noop. 

2. Atlah. 

3. Kochtsa. 

4. Mooh. 

5. Sootcha. 

6. Noop-pooh. 

7. Atl-pooh. 

8. Atlah-quill. 

9. Tsow-w auk-quill. 

10. Hy-yu. 

11. Hy-yu-ish Tsow-wauk, and so 

on to nineteen. 

20. Tsok-kits. 

21. Tsok'kits-ish Tsow-wauk, and 

so on to twenty-nine. 
30. Tsok-kits-ish hy-yu. 
40. Atleyk {i.e. two twenties). 
50. Atleyk-ish hy-yu, 
60. Kochtseyk. 

70. Kochtseyk-ish hy-yu, and so on. 
100. Sootcheyk. The same way of 
counting is continued up to 
200. Hy-yu-eyk. 



20—2 



308 VOCABULARY OF THE AHT LANGUAGE. 

List of Aht Tkibes on the Outside Coast of Vancouver Island in 
1860, with their Localities and Male Adult Population, the 
Names being stated in the Order in which the Villages occur 
going Northward along the Coast. 

Number. Locality. 

: 1. Pacheenaht 20 -^ Seaboard, south of Niti- 

Y naht Sound, and on the 

X 2. Nitinaht 400 j Nitinaht Kiver. 

3. Ohyaht 175] 

v 4. Howchuklisaht 28 I 

15. Opechisaht 15 'Barclay, otherwise Niti- 

y 6. Seshaht 70 

y7. You-clul-aht 100 

y8. Toquaht ! 11 , 

9. Klah-oh-quaht 190 -j 

v 10. Killsmahty. 40 I 

11. Ahousaht 115 f Klah-oh-quaht Sound. 

X 12. Manohsaht 5 J 

v 13. Hishquayaht 30 

14. Muchlaht 36 

15. Moouch aht (the so-called Nootkahs) 150 

16. Ayhuttisaht , 36 

17. Noochahlaht 26 J 

18. Ky-yoh-quaht 230 ^ 

19. Chaykisaht 32 L North of Nootkah Sound. 

Klahosaht X 14 J 



naht, Sound. 



Nootkah Sound. 



20. 



1,723 men 



Names and supposed Ages of Men of one Tribe — the Opechisaht 

—in 1864. 

Names. Ages. 

1. Kal-lowe-ish 45 Hereditary chief. 

2. Quicheenam 55 Most influential chief. 

o. Tee-teech-it 45 ^ 

4. Quassoon 45 [-Important men. 

5. Ta-hatchim 45 



f 



VOCABULARY OF THE AHT LANGUAGE. 309 



Names. 



6. Tsin-sick 20 Son of hereditary chief . 

7. Wee-woom-tuck 25] 

8. Klatsomick 25 

9. E-ees-siniap 25 

10. Georgees 25 

11. Klay-klay-has 25 ^Inferior men. 

12. Too-tooch 30 

13. Klash-klookah 45 

14. Aytannos 15 

1 5. Klap-hytap 60 

In this tribe there were nineteen women, ten children (four boys and 
six girls), and three slaves (two male, one female). 



Aht Names of Men and Women, 1860. 
Men's Names. i Women's Names. 



Ass-cha-ah-mick. 

Ar-wee-ell. 

Ar-mish-e-nell. 

Klan-nin-ittle. 

Kush-e-nishim. 

Kal-lowe-ish. 

Ewona. 

Mannaken. 

Koo-lal-kut. 

Kanas-keh. 

Anneets. 

Ishka. 

Makouina. 

Ewiz-zet. 

Sea-ossum. 

Seta-kanim. 

Wick-an-inish. 

Maquilla. 

Kleeshin. 

Quart-soppy. 

Quisto. 

Pat-low. 

Nish- watts. 

Estah-skoth-mick. 



Kleeshin-nell. 

Wee-woom-tuck-shesh. 

Klah-miss-a-mah. 

Kostan. 

Anah-hammes. 

Nat-la-nah-his. 

Hy-you-po-itla. 

Paona-ne-icksa. 

Jibo. 

Equata. 

Kan-kan-hammes* 

Kloo-yah. 

Witsa-how-a-klim. 

S oa- wy-you-Koitla. 



310 VOCABULARY OF THE ART LANGUAGE. 



Aht Names of Places. 



Ock-tees. 

Echachet. 

Opetset. 

Koabadore. 

Chay-tann-os. 

Chomata. 

Malset. 

Omoah. 

Mackalay. 

Tenahmah. 

Sacket-sah. 



Osmettikus. 

Sarktees. 

Newmah-kommes. 

Nahmint. 

Mook-a-tees. 

Kloo-tus. 

Keekah. 

Keekin. 

Tor-soppel. 

E-kole. 

Chee-anno. 



Aht Navies of Bereies. 
Berries. Generic Name (Hucheexnt). 

1. Strawberry Kulkintupah. 

2. Salmon berry Kow-wih. 

3. Blackberry (bramble) Kalh-kow-wih. 

4. Thimble berry (Rubus Nootkanus).Hoopahlh. 

5. Gooseberry Himmik-kahoo. 

6 . Black currant Hys-shitl. 

7. A berry Weelhussem. 

8. A berry , Hissin (connected with Hissit, 

" red.") 

9. Sal-al berry Yah-mah. 

10. Crab-apple Tseetsahahktl. 

11. A blackberry growing on rocks... Sinna-mooxyets {Moox or Mooxyeh, 

a " rock ; " yets or yetsook, " to 
walk." 



APPENDIX. 



Note 1. 

The aborigines of Vancouver Island may be divided generally into 
three nations — one including the tribes which, speak the^Quoquoulth, 
or Fort Rupert language ; another including the tribes which speak 
the Kowitchan, or Thongeith ; and the third those which speak the 
Aht language. The^Komux tribe, who live on the east coast 
of the island, between the Kowitchan and the Quoquoulth tribes, 
are a distinct people, who are known to have come from British 
Columbia. The Quoquoulth language prevails on the north and 
north-east of the island ; the Kowitchan on the east and south ; the 
Aht language on the west coast of the island, between Pacheen 
and Nespocl (Woody Point). The Kowitchan and Aht languages, 
or dialects of them, are also spoken on the southern, or American 
side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca ; and I believe that the Aht 
language can be traced through all the tribes on the ocean coast as 
far south as the mouth of the Columbia River. These three sup- 
posed aboriginal nations in Vancouver Island — each including 
many independent neighbouring tribes — are almost as distinct as 
the nations in Europe. They do not readily understand one an- 
other's language, and their national customs and institutions are in 
many respects different. 

I have selected for description in this book one set of tribes which 
inhabit the greater part of the outside coast of Vancouver Island, 
between Pacheen and Nespocl (Woody Point), and to which I 
give the name of the Aht tribes, from the circumstance of all the 
tribal names ending in that affix. These tribes have been designated 
in the island, liitherto, as the " west coast " tribes. They have not 
been separately described by any former writer ; nor does it appear 
to have been known that the different tribes of which the Aht nation 



312 APPENDIX. 

is composed are nationally connected. No mission nor trading post. 
with the exception of the short-lived settlement at Nootkah, in the 
last century, has ever been established in this part of Vancouver 
Island. 

A general name for this set of tribes was- not easily found. 
Maht-mahs first suggested itself, as a word used by the Ahts in 
speaking of the whole population — a word which might be trans- 
lated " the peoples," or " the settlements ; " but it seemed rather to 
be a common noun than a proper name. Another word was Klah- 
oh-quaht, the name of a powerful" Aht tribe dwelling in Klah-oli- 
quaht Sound, by which general appellation some of the natives on 
the inner side of the island designate those on the west coast. I 
could not, however, think of any more appropriate general name 
than the Ahts or the Quawteahts, which latter word is mythologically 
connected with the origin of all the tribes in this nation. 

I may here remark that I have used in this narrative somewhat 
different names of places and tribes from those adopted by other 
travellers and by the makers of charts — not in any spirit of oppo- 
sition, but hi the belief that it is of some importance, if only for the 
sake of record, to determine, while possible, and make use of, the 
true original native appellations. My corrections are chiefly ortho- 
graphical — to make the names correspond with the language of the 
people — and they are not intended to interfere with the established 
rule among travellers, by which, I believe, the first published name 
is considered indisputable, without reference to its absolute cor- 
rectness. 

Note 2. 

The Indians regard the English as a large tribe, whose principal 
village is distant. Their name of King- George men was given to 
the English because the first of the English who visited the Alit 
coast frequently talked of a great chief of that name. For the same 
reason, another white tribe — the Americans — are called by the 
Indians Boston-men, owing to their frequent mention of that great 
seaport in their own country. The Ahts distinguish an Englishman 
from an American as easily as they can point out a Klah-oh-quaht 
or a Nitinaht among themselves; and this not by the dress, but, as 
they described it, by the face, and the way the hair is worn. Owing. 
I believe, principally to the bad quality of the blankets and other 
goods offered in trade by American traders, the Americans are to 
this clay regarded by the Ahts as inferior to the British. 



APPENDIX. 313 

Note 3. 

The natives did not, during five years, invent new names for any 
of their domesticated animals. They called all of them, except 
the dog, by one name — the Jargon- Chinook word moosmoos, which 
specially means the ox, and is probably connected with the Walla- 
walla (in Oregon) word for the buffalo moosmoos-chin. The know- 
ledge of this word, with a general application of it at first to any 
large annual, may have come down the Columbia River from Walla- 
walla to the Chinook district at its mouth, and spread gradually, 
with the use of the jargon, along the coast to the north, until it 
reached the west coast of Vancouver Island. I found that the dog- 
was known to the Ahts before my arrival, and that they had a name 
for it ; but they have no knowledge or tradition as to the " woolly 
Nootkah " dog, which travellers have reported as existing on this 
coast. They call the dog ennitl or annitl, a name which it may not be 
fanciful to suggest was composed from the Aht word anni, " look," and 
sMtl, an Aht verb terminal, implying " movement " (see the chapter in 
this book on the " Aht Language "), and was bestowed on the dog on 
account of its quick sight and rapid movements. The real Chinook 
language, distinctly from the Jargon- Chinook, has separate words of 
its own for animals domesticated by civilized man, e.g. keutan, horse ; 
Jcamitx, dog ; piss-piss, cat ; polotax, hog. These words cannot be 
older than the time of the first travellers or settlers on this portion 
of the Pacific coast, who brought such animals with them ; but the 
imitative word moosmoos, in various forms, coming, as it must have 
come, from the interior of the country, through aboriginal channels 
to the western shore, may be as old as the first bellowing of the 
buffalo heard on the North American continent by man. 

Having mentioned the Jargon -Chinook, I may notice a statement 
made respecting it by Lord Milton and Dr. Cheadle. In a note, 
page 344, of their pleasant book, The North- West Passage bg Land, 
they inform the reader that the Chinook- Jargon was invented by the 
Hudson Bay Company for use in trading with the Indians. This 
statement, which I daresay these travellers heard at Victoria, and 
without examination adopted, is erroneous, as their own good sense 
might have told them. It would imply that at some solemn " con- 
vention" of Hudson Bay Company traders and savage chiefs, chosen 
words were agreed upon which, from a stated time, were to be the 
signs for certain objects and actions, and that these words came into 
general use on the coast, thus exhibiting the philological phenomenon 
of a language definitely known to have been invented by man. The 



314 APPENDIX. 

truth is, as stated in Chapter XV. of this book, that the Chinook- 
Jargon is simply a depravation of the Chinook language — an old lan- 
guage, which probably is the mother of all the dialects spoken on the 
coast between the Columbia River and the north of Vancouver Island. 
This original Chinook language, of which I possess a vocabulary, 
and which does not, as Dr. Wilson says {Prehistoric Man, vol. ii., 
p. 429), "baffle all attempts at its mastery," was spoken by the 
Chinooks and other tribes at the mouth of the Columbia River, and 
is now almost extinct, owing to the disappearance of the people. It 
was probably the first native coast language in this quarter that was 
learned by the traders of J. J. Astor, and the North-West Company ; 
and these, with the traders of their successors, the Hudson Bay 
Company, in trafficking at different points on the coast, would 
naturally use the native language best known to them— the 
Chinook — which, it so happened, from the affinity of all the dialects 
along the coast northwards, would be understood without great diffi- 
culty by the different coast tribes. In the course of time, on the 
decline of the original Chinook-speaking tribes, the standard of 
reference for the language would be withdrawn, and dispersion and 
deterioration would ensue, until finally the old language would cease 
to be spoken, and would be changed and corrupted into the present 
contemptible lingua Franca, 

The"Newatees, mentioned in many books, are not known on the 
west coast. Probably the Klah-oh-quahts are meant. Newatee 
may be a locality in Klah-oh-quaht Sound. The blunders and con- 
fusion in the statements of the latest writers on the Indians of the 
north-west coast really alarm any one accustomed to believe the 
stories of travellers who are supposed to have got their information 
" on the spot." Error upon error is copied from one book into 
another. How, indeed, could any one, ignorant of the various 
languages spoken by the people, merely by sailing, or by knowing 
somebody who sailed along, say the coast of Galway, in Ireland, be 
considered to have qualified himself for giving a correct account of 
all the different inhabitants of the north-west of Europe ? 

Note 4. 

Cook's book of Voyages has proved to be the most truthful and sensible 
book of the sort ever published. The short account he gives of the 
Aht natives is better than the hearsay statements made about them 
by subsequent writers, few of whom have ever visited the district. 



APPENDIX. 315 

Cook does not seem to have known that the west-coast Indians formed 
a nation, and he probably misnamed the people the " Nootkahs." 
No Aht Indian of the present day ever heard of such a name as 
Nootkah, though most of them recognize the other words in Cook's 
account of their language. The tribes called by Cook the Nootkahs 
probably were the Muchlahts, Moouchahts, Ayhuttisahts, and Noo- 
chahlahts, as these tribes have lived for a very long time, according 
to Indian memory and tradition, at the places Cook visited. The 
name Nootkah may have originated thus : — The first white visitor, 
on reaching the Sound, probably pointed to the mountainous shore, 
and, in addressing the Indians, threw his arm about to indicate that 
he wished to know the name of the whole district ; and the natives, 
imagining that he referred to the mountains which appeared on 
every side, would answer according to their habit of frequent repe- 
tition, " Noochee ! Noochee ! " which is the Aht word for mountain. 
I may remark that this word Nootkah — no word at all — together 
with an imaginary word, Columbian, denoting a supposed original 
North American race — is absurdly used to denote all the tribes 
which inhabit the Rocky Mountains and the western coast of North 
America, from California inclusively to the regions inhabited by the 
Esquimaux. In this great tract there are more tribes, differing 
totally in language and customs, than in any other portion of the 
American continent ; and surely a better general name for them 
could be found than this meaningless and misapplied term Nootkah 
Columbian. 

Note 5. 

The Aht substitute for soap formerly was that with which English 
sailors, on long voyages, clean their duck trousers. 

Nay, in troth, I talk but coarsely, 

But I hold it comfortable for the understanding. 

Beaumont and Fletcher. 

Note 0. 

The personal modesty of the Aht women — particularly when 
they are young — is greater than that of the men, who, it must be 
said, are often careless in the disposition of their only covering— the 
blanket. The women wear a shift, or some such thing, under their 
blanket, and seem anxious, generally, to cover their nakedness. 



316 APPENDIX. 

Note 7. 

I have no special knowledge of aboriginal lingual districts outside 
of Vancouver Island ; but the numerals of the following five lan- 
guages, of the north-west of America, which, it will be seen, include 
the Kowitchan, show that the languages are closely related : — 

Koivitchan or Thongeith : South-east and part of east of Van- 
couver Island. 

Squawmish : Neighbourhood of the mouth of the Fraser River 
in British Columbia. 

Douglas, Lytton : Names of English towns in British Columbia. 
I do not know the Indian names of the districts, but the language 
spoken there resembles the Squawmish, and exhibits instances of 
change to be discovered in the language, as we advance up the Fraser 
and its tributary, the Harrison. 

Sheivshivap : Is spoken in a large tract of inland country lying 
between the Fraser and the Columbia. 

There may be observed a slight but significant similarity between 
some of the Aht numerals and those of these five districts. 

Two branches of the British Columbian Indian languages — the 
Carrier and the Tshimpsean — seem quite distinct from each other 
and from the rest. 

Note 8. 

From a careful observation of the arts among the Aht natives, I am 
tolerably certain that no other materials than bone and shell were 
required by them for making their tools and weapons, up to the time 
when iron was brought amongst them, say, within the last 150 years. 
They used bone tools and bone fishing and hunting instruments long 
after they had a knowledge of iron — as lately, indeed, as a few years 
ago ; and/at the present time, the mussel- shell adze, used in canoe- 
making, is preferred to one of any other material, and to the best 
English and American chiselsX In felling large cedar-trees, and 
in other work, until the natives got the admirable American wood- 
man's axe, they found their bone chisels more useful than any small- 
handled instrument of stone or iron, as the bone tool had the requisite 
toughness, bluntness, and penetrating power for working cedar- wood 
for their purposes. At the same time, it should be stated, the Alits 
had a few stone and copper (the latter not smelted or moulded) 
instruments, when first visited by Cook — and probably earlier ; and 
ground stone chisels can be found amongst them at the present day. 



APPENDIX. 317 

But I think that these stone instruments could never have been in 
general use on the Alit coast, as the Indians never describe their 
utility, but produce old bone instruments for every purpose on being 
asked what they used before they had iron. I have little doubt that 
most of these tools, like the carved stone pipes found among several 
of the tribes, were obtained in trade, or as curiosities by the Ahts 
from the Indians inhabiting the coast of the mainland farther 
north, who, though perhaps originally, or anciently, a bone -using 
people, have been forced, by the comparative scarcity of cedar in 
their district, to make many stone instruments for cutting harder 
trees. The northern Indians, who are an entirely different people 
from the Ahts, possess, in their district, a soft blue slate, and are 
now skilful workers in stone : they have stone weapons and 
instruments remarkably well shaped and polished ; but, at the 
same time, these northern Indians are fiercer and more uncivi- 
lized than even the Vancouver Ahts. What, then, is the value of 
the quality of stone implements as a test of civilization ? The 
numerous tribes of the great Tshimpsean nation are as thoroughly 
uncivilized as men can be : they are removed, apparently, but little 
from mere animal existence, though their boldness, their stature and 
bearing prevent them from being gens de pitie. Nevertheless, their 
skill in working stone is greater than that shown in the existing 
specimens of the supposed highest stone age : it is, indeed, remark- 
able, as any one who has seen shop-windows in Victoria filled with 
their carvings can testify. They make figures in stone dressed like 
Englishmen ; plates and other utensils of civilization, ornamented 
pipe stems and heads, models of houses, stone flutes, adorned with 
well-carved figures of animals. Their imitative skill is as noticeable 
as their dexterity in carving. (See Papers by G. M. Sproat, in 
the Transactions of the Ethnological Society of London for 1866 
and 1867.) 



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